THE 

>*FAITH 

OF THE 

FATHERS 



A Play 
In Three Acts 

HENRY BERMAN 




K 







Copyright N°. 



_ __ : 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE FAITH 

OF THE FATHERS 



THE 
FAITH OF THE FATHERS 



A PLAY IN THREE ACTS 



BY 

HENRY HERMAN 

Author of "Worshippers*' , "Gift Bearers" , Etc. 



NEW YORK 

NICHOLAS L. BROWN 

MCMXXII 






Copyright 1922 
by 

HENRY BERMAN 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



JAN 30 1922 
'CI.D 59786 



PERSONS OF THE PLAY 

Rev. Dr. Ephraim Joseffy, Rabbi of Temple B'nai 

Israel of Pittsburgh 
Sydney Rosenthal, his brother-in-law 
Rose Joseffy, his wife 
Sidonie Joseffy, his daughter 
Rabbi William Pollitz, Sidonie's fiance 
Charles Laempfert, President of Temple B'nai Israel 
Mrs. Charles Edward Perkins, a Christian Science 

practitioner 
Charles Edward Perkins, her husband 
Dr. Stanley Kantor J 

r r> ) Trustees of Temple B'nai Israel 

Leopold Brenner I 

Albert Shotton ) 

Frederick Speiser, of Sydney Rosenthal's law office 

Mrs. W. Remington Bardell 

Vera Doston 

Charlotte Anhaltz 

An office boy in Sydney Rosenthal's law office 



ACT I. Dr. Joseffy's Library. (One week ebps»s) 
ACT II. Sydney Rosenthal's private office. (Two 

weeks elapse) 
ACT III. Same as Act I. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/faithoffathersplOOberm 



ACT I 

The library in the home of the Reverend Doctor 
Ephraim Joseffy, spiritual head of those who worship in 
Temple B'nai Israel, Pittsburgh. The house is a gift to 
their rabbi from the synagogue, and the wealth of the 
congregation can be gauged by the money which has 
been lavished upon this room. 

At its inception, a decorator had treated it as a color 
unit, hampered by such impediments as the architect 
structurally put into his way; and the color idea has, on 
the whole, been maintained through the various changes 
the room has since undergone. The treatment is brown 
against green: the floor is stained brown, the walls with 
their sweep of built-in bookshelves are of oak, the Wil- 
liam and Mary and the late Jacobean furniture is of 
oak, the fireplace against the rear wall is in a rough 
brown brick, the ceiling is beamed in oak; the required 
green is in the upholstering, in the pongee silk casement 
curtains, in the handsomely brocaded velour cushions, 
and in the velour portieres. 

So much for the color impression. The room itself 
is long, with a door to the right which opens into the 
living room, a door in the upper right hand corner to 
which two steps rise which lead to the hall, and case- 
ment windows at the left which look out on a garden. 



8 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

The dominating sense of furnishings is in the several 
thousand books which are marshalled from floor to ceil- 
ing on all sides. The other outstanding features are a 
spacious library table at the right, placed near the sit- 
ting room door which opens almost against it; a long, 
finely carved bench before the fireplace; and a deep, 
comfortable settle before the windows on the left. Sev- 
eral arm chairs and wing chairs are placed so as to 
properly fill out the room, while a gateleg table on the 
left of the fireplace holds handsome tea utensils. 

The library table carries two lamps in Japanese vases 
of gold and green, a curiously fashioned clock of bronze 
and crystal, ornate writing materials, a telephone instru- 
ment, a group of new books between bronze bookends, 
an Old Testament luxuriously bound, and a marble 
replica of Rodin's "Hand of God." The only other con- 
spicuous religious art object in the room is an oak- 
framed copy, in color, of Rembrandt's "Isaac Blessing 
the Children of Joseph," hung over the fireplace be- 
tween gilt Italian candlesticks. 

On the floor are a number of antique Persian rugs, 
whose play of color reaches up in friendly intimacy 
to the overshadowing rows of books even though the 
discord of the floor coverings in the color scale of the 
room would trouble the soul of a professional decorator. 

There is a great deal of noise and activity in the ad- 
joining sitting room. The library itself has but a single 
occupant, a young woman in hat and coat who is sitting 
at the foot of the alcove of books between the fireplace 
and the rear door, and who is engrossed in the pictures 
of a very large volume. She is a serious-minded little 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 9 

person, un-Semitic in physiognomy, and on close vi?w 
somewhat stiff and hard with egotism, and pre3isely the 
sort who would drift away from the chatter which dins 
its way in from the other room. Vera Boston (abbrevi- 
ated from the "Dostonewsky" which her father brought 
frcm Russia) is one of the number of Russian American 
young women writing fiction in the guise of autobio- 
graphy. 

From the sitting rocm comes a highly sentimental- 
ized rendition on the piano of Kreisler's "Liebesfreud." 
The door to the right is thrown open, and a young woman 
bustles in, the plumes on a rather large hat in cjmmj- 
tion, and her corsetted plumpness greatly agka'ed. Her 
dark skin, dark eyes and prominent nose are more racial- 
ly correct than Vera's blondness and abbreviated features, 
and her exuberance is in marked contrast to Ver.i's 
schooled restraint. Charlotte Anhaltz has brought ne vs 
which makes her impatient of the sprawling girl's b^ok. 

Charlotte. Do put that away, and come in, Vera! 
(Then her curiosity gets the better of her excitement). 
What have you there? (Bending over) Whrt's that? 
(With a giggle) They certainly don't look like religious 
pictures! 

Vera (loftily) They are as religious as pictures can 
be. Hogarth could very well be the sub'ect for a ser- 
mon. You've got an awful provincial mind, Charl tte, 
even though you do live in Pittsburgh. 

Charlotte (as Vera turns to another picture) You 
don't think Dr. Joseffy would want to make a sermon 
out of that? (Anxiously) He might come in, you 
know! 



10 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Vera. If you feel it isn't proper, you don't have to 
look at it, you know. 

Charlotte (really uncomfortable) Dr. Joseffy is so 
careful about what he wants us to read — 

Vera (impatiently) Honi soit qui mal y pense! 

Charlotte. You certainly can be catty. (After a 
pause, as Vera pays no attention to her) The girls are 
planning a dance for Sidonie. Not that we would ex- 
pect her to dance. (Vera raises her head). But it's for 
the spirit of the thing. Why, it would be like a festival! 
After her being eight years an invalid, we've simply 
got to think up something unusual! It takes my breath 
away! There she is, getting about, like any one of 
us! 

Vera. I'm glad things like that happen to strengthen 
our faith in God. (Conscious that this shocks Charlotte) 
I haven't said anything so terrible. The roof won't fall 
on you. (Querulously) But why isn't Sidonie down? 
Or why doesn't she send word with her mother? (With 
contracted brows) It's been very foolish of us to come 
in a crowd. 

Charlotte. Mrs. Joseffy could have told us not to 
come when we telephoned, if that was so. You'll upset 
the girls if you make them feel they aren't welcome. 
Sidonie is getting about, and you know T she's been in town 
and seen some of the girls. So she must be strong 
enough to see us. 

Vera (closing the book and slipping it back into its 
place) We've been here twenty minutes since her 
mother went up to tell her we were here. The best thing 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 11 

is for us to be sensible, and for most of us to go away, 
and to stop all that noise. 

Charlotte (alarmed to the verge of tears) Sidonie 
couldn't misunderstand that we were happy about her 
and were showing it! 

(The piano music in the next room changes to a 
gavotte by the Russian composer Glazounow) . 

Vera (caught by the cadence and the rhythm) Now, 
that's what I call honest music! Kreisler's wasn't! (Com- 
ing back to the matter in hand after a brief enjoyment of 
the gavotte) We can't judge Sidonie's strength by the 
things she is doing. A dance may be too exciting for 
her. Rushing from one wild plan to another won't lead 
anywhere, for we haven't any real idea what her real 
condition is. She didn't say very much to the girls 
who saw her. 

Charlotte (with a toss of the head) I don't care. 
I'm so happy about her that "ifs" and "buts" don't 
bother me! I wish you'd be more cheerful, Vera. Look- 
ing at those pictures of Hogarth would make anybody 
blue. 

Vera. Looking at a mirror makes a lot of people 
blue. I'm the last person in the world to be afraid of 
facts. 

(They resume their waiting, although Vera 
makes no effort to get out another book). 

Charlotte. You've certainly got me worrying! 

Vera. You'll have to try not to be. (Relenting) If 
we girls are going to get together to make some sort of 
a gift to Sidonie, we might get a good portrait painter 



12 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

to give us a head of her. She'd make a splendid sub- 
ject. 

Charlotte (in raptures) You dear! Why, that's a 
real inspiration! A portrait that they could hang right 
there above the fireplace, Vera! Was it Hogarth made 
you think of it? You must come out at once to tell 
the girls! 

Vera. She may not want to sit for her portrait, my 
dear. 

(Before Charlotte can adjust herself to her 
companion's mental somersault, the opening of 
the rear door turns the attention of both to tie 
person whom it admits. Mrs. Ephraim Joseffy 
enters quickly. She shuts the door behind her. 
She is a tiny, black-haired woman, with a bird- 
like head, and is sudden in her movements. The 
suggestion of a bird is heightened by the high note 
in her voice, to which her little hands play a 
rapid accompaniment) . 
Mrs. Joseffy. Vera! Charlotte! Just a moment! 
{She goes to the door to the right which is slightly ajar, 
and closes it. Her hand is on the knob when she turns 
to the girls again, as if she wishes to keep out anyone 
who might want to come in). It's all right. There's 
nothing to worry about. It's fortunate that you two are 
here, for you can tell the others. Sidonie isn't coming 
down. She says she will see you all just as soon as she 
can. I know you will understand. 

Charlotte. Surely! 

[But it is evident that the two girls do not under- 
stand. They wait for further enlightenment. Mrs. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 13 

Joseffy hesitates. The momentary silence affords 
a background for the Glazounow music drifting 
in from the next room). 
Vera (with a shade of impatience) Sidonie is con- 
tinuing to feel better, isn't she? 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes, indeed! It isn't that, dear. Cer- 
tain things — you see — it's the matter of getting accus- 
tomed — (She breaks off). 

Charlotte. Is there anything we can get her? Some 
books? — Or new music records? 

Mrs. Joseffy. It's so thoughtful of you! (She 
nervously kisses Charlotte) . I'm going up stairs again. 
You will know what to tell the girls, won't you? (She 
is looking at Charlotte, not at Vera). Sidonie is better, 
thank God! Never fear! But please don't let the girls 
hurry away. 

(She hesitates as if this vagueness were unsatis- 
factory even to herself, and finishes by fluttering 
out of the room. The two visitors look non- 
plussed) . 
Vera. She seemed ready to tell us why Sidonie 
couldn't see us. 

Charlotte. You were right about not coming in a 
crowd, Vera. I wish I hadn't been here! 

Vera (immediately reversing herself without a qualm) 
We came with the best intentions in the world. So please 
don't be a cry-baby! I'm very fond of Mrs. Joseffy; 
but how can we ask the girls to go without starting all 
kinds of talk? 

(An electric bell whirs briefly in another part 
of the house. The laughter and chatter in the next 



14 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

room become subdued. Charlotte is ready to go 
in to the others, despite the indefiniteness of her 
message, when she is brought up sharply with a 
turn by her companion). 

Vera. You don't mean you're going to show your 
face in there without really knowing what you are going 
to say! Can you imagine what it would mean to create 
any wrong impression? 

Charlotte (in despair) What shall we say? 

Vera. Leave it to me. 

{The figure of a portly man frames the door- 
way to the right. With the opening of the door 
comes the din from the other room, to the accom- 
paniment of the music. 

{The man who enters is Charles Laempfert, the 
leading Jewish banker of Pittsburgh. His mas- 
siveness bulks larger as he moves forward, and 
his pronouncedly Semitic head makes an impres- 
sive show of energy and tenacity with its long, 
smooth-shaven face, ruddy lips, strong nose and 
beetling brows. His poise barely escapes ar- 
rogance. He is not yet fifty, but he looks older). 

Laempfert. Ah, so some of the mob has broken in 
here (Patronizingly) Well, Miss Doston, still writing 
poetry? 

Vera (coldly) I didn't know you had time to find out 
whether anybody was writing poetry. 

Charlotte (flirting) How's business, Mr. Laempfert? 

Laempfert. I was going to ask you that. (He seats 
himself behind the library table). Are you two the ad- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 15 

vance guard? I understand that the girls are expecting 
Sidonie down. 

Vera (as Charlotte looks over towards her for help) 
We were about to tell them that she isn't coming down. 

Laempfert (less phlegmatic) Why, what's the mat- 
ter? 

Vera. Nothing, as far as I know. I suppose there 
were too many of us. 

Laempfert (the dig about his lack of interest in 
poetry still rankling) Too many to the very last one. 

Vera. We were trying to show our happiness in 
Sidonie's getting stronger. Don't tell me that everything 
men do is awfully reasonable! 

Laempfert (looking away from her) I can't help the 
spirit in which you take my remark. 

Charlotte (who has opened the door to the right, 
and as quickly closed it) Dr. Joseffy is there! 

Vera. We should have been in there ahead of him! 

(She leads the way out hurriedly) . 

Laempfert (when they are out of earshot) Damned 
little Russian! (He leans over towards the telephone set 
and lifts the receiver) . Grant one-one-four .... Hello! 
Hello! .... Mr. Edelstein, please! This is Mr. 

Laempfert talking Hello, Edelstein. . . . 

Very well, thank you! . . . I've decided to share in 
the expense of sending your man to Oklahoma. But as 
a precaution, I would send two men who know oil, say 
a week apart, and check their reports against each other. 
. . . Yes. . . . Understand, Edelstein, I don't want 
anyone to know about this — not until we actually find 



16 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

some oil. My self-respect has kept me out of this sort 

of thing so far. (Laughs condescendingly) 

All right. Good bye. 

{He sits back with a satisfied air, and soon his 
immediate surroundings begin to fade away as he 
spins about himself the intricate web of business 
speculation. 

(An entirely antithetical type presently comes 
into the room in the person of the Reverend Doc- 
tor Ephraim Joseffy. It is not difficult to surmise 
that he is an individual for whom the everyday 
world is one of considerable illusion, to be borne 
with patiently for the sake of others, and that he 
prefers the abstract because it disturbs him least. 
(In appearance he is tall, bony, with a narrow, 
bearded head, and sensitive features that are more 
readily responsive to suffering than to happiness. 
At this particular moment his eyes are those of 
one who is badly concealing a hurt. He is wear- 
ing an academic cap and gown and a doctor of 
divinity ribbon across his breast) . 
Joseffy (stopping to shake hands with Laempfert; 
speaking nervously) I'm glad you've come, Charles. 

(He divests himself of the cap and gown, and 
goes to the other end of the room to throw them 
on the settle. Without them he looks very frail 
and somewhat stooped. His garb is similar to 
that of a Christian clergyman). 
Laempfert. How's the enrollment at the University 
this fall? 

Joseffy (hearing past his preoccupation as he stands 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 17 

abstracted in the middle of the room) Very good, very 
good. 

Laempfert. Some time or other I'll give them some 
money for a new building and get a doctor's degree, and 
it will be an excuse for attending their Exercises. How 
were this morning's? 

Joseffy {with an effort becoming socially responsive) 
Opening Exercises are dull as a rule, but I thought things 
were better this year. The Governor was dreadfully 
commonplace. 

Laempfert. In that case he surprised no one. What 
particular antidote did you supply? 

Joseffy (walking to the settle and looking out of the 
window) The students may have put me in the Gov- 
ernor's class. The title I chose — "The Iron Highway" 
— couldn't have sounded promising. (Turning) I pic- 
tured our civilization as wrought in iron, which must not 
be left to rust. I appealed to them to keep to this high- 
way at this precarious time in the world's history. (More 
energetically) I flayed novelty as a distorted mirror in 
which neither the intellectual nor the moral life sees 
itself aright. It was their duty to resist the hot-house 
atmosphere of the times. (With a shrug of the shoulders) 
Of course, my figures of speech did not jostle each other 
like that. 

Laempfert (shaking his head) We are wasting our 
time about the younger generation, Ephraim. I say it 
despite the wonderful influence you have been. 

(He takes a cigarette from a prettily chased gold 
case, and lights it). 

Joseffy (bitterness showing through the emphasis) 



18 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Influence? My influence? But we will come to that in a 
moment. As far as those young people were concerned, 
I brought them that message because it needed expres- 
sion. I had grown too uncomfortable with the thought 
of it left unsaid. At times during the address I had a 
sense of speaking in anger. I could not help it. There 
were things within which hurt me. {Controlling himself) 
That's why I sent for you, Charles. 

{He abruptly turns to see if the doors are shut). 

Laempfert {who has been watching him wondering- 
ly) What is it? 

Joseffy. On the way home, Charles, I tried to re- 
hearse how I was to tell you. {With a bitter laugh) They 
say that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. 
We're blind, Charles! We're blind to what is going on 
around us! We try to walk right through the obvious! 
We ignore vital matter-of-fact conditions, even as we 
ignore the inevitable coming of death! 

Laempfert {calmly) I suppose we're too busy. 

Joseffy. No! It's because we never really come to 
grips with life. 

Laempfert. Will it help if we try to prevent what- 
ever lightning you speak of from striking a third time? 

Joseffy {tense) Charles, you've come here on an er- 
rand of mercy, for I am in desperate trouble. In the 
past there was another man to whom I could have turned. 
Today I have stumbled on the realization that I hate 
that man — I, who should harbor no hates! 

Laempfert. It's no discredit to you that you have 
finally arrived at that feeling. {Pursing his lips) Rosen- 
thal was a sort of proof to me that brothers-in-law are 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 19 

rarely satisfactory. They seem to sum up all the un- 
desirable qualities of the family one marries into. I've 
got my share, although I don't pretend it's a match for 
yours. 

Joseffy. I can see now how lenient all of you have 
been to Sydney Rosenthal because he is my brother-in- 
law. But I can say to you now that he is monstrous, 
that he is a danger to the community ! You once insisted 
that a renegade couldn't be trusted. It is true! They are 
centres of corruption every one of them! 

Laempfert You haven't told me yet what has hap- 
pened, Ephraim. If it is necessary we will manage to 
make it uncomfortable for Rosenthal in Pittsburgh. We 
should have done it long ago. 

Joseffy (alarmed) No! No! That was never the 
way! (In the depths of despair) Anyway, it's too late 
to adopt such an attitude. 

Laempfert (coming forward) You look fagged out. 
You've been overworking. 

Joseffy (evidently not hearing him) You understand, 
I may be merely guessing when I say that Sydney Rosen- 
thal is responsible for this. I should be fairer: he may 
have done nothing deliberately — 

Laempfert (unable to restrain his curiosity any 
longer) What is it you are talking about? 

Joseffy (not realizing in the turmoil of his thoughts 
that he has not yet given his facts) What? 

Laempfert (friendly, yet firm) Just a moment, Eph- 
raim. Whatever it is, you're not going to go to pieces 
the way you did when you learned of Rosenthal's apos- 
tacy. An experience like that should have been an 



20 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

education to you. {Even as he speaks, he is trying to 
conjecture what has occurred). 

Joseffy. Great heavens, Charles, wouldn't my own 
daughter's conversion be ten thousand times worse than 
than that of Sydney Rosenthal's? 

Laempfert (digesting the news in a flash) So that's 
what made her well ! 

Joseffy. No! Eddyism never made Sidonie well! 

Laempfert (trying to get command of the situation) 
No; but let's be calm about this. You can be. (Seizing 
at a straw) You were able to go to the University this 
morning. It shows the value of self-possession. 

Joseffy. It doesn't help. Don't you think I have been 
trying to view this calmly? The fact that this is a some- 
what different catastrophe than Sydney's defection only 
makes it the more horrible! 

Laempfert. Come! We aren't as helpless as all 
that! 

Joseffy (explosively) To think there were times when 
I thought his conduct was our opportunity for tolerance! 
That's sentimentality, not ethics! 

Laempfert. The sentimental part of us is only on 
the surface. 

Joseffy. You haven't caught the significance of this 
yet. Why, look what happened just now! (Pointing to 
the other room) Those eager, expectant girls came to 
greet her, fairly wild about her recovery. And — she 
can't face them! 

Laempfert. After all, that's not so bad. There's 
hope in that. 

Joseffy (his face contorted with suffering) The 
daughter of Ephraim Joseffy should never have been 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 21 

scorched in that flame! She should have gone through 
the accursed furnace of any Christian appeal, and come 
out the Jewess she went in! 

Laempfert. Not if she really believes she has been 
cured by going through that particular furnace. And 
she has the argument that she is better. 

Joseffy. I am not denying the possible efficacy of 
hypnotism or mental suggestion. But this is a religion 
that waves the cross. The awfulness of it is, Charles, 
that my gratitude for her improvement in health, and my 
fear that she may relapse if we are not careful, create 
such an anomalous condition! From being wild with 
joy, I have become wild with fear. (He collapses into 
a nearby seat) . 

(There is a pause) . 

Laempfert (evenly) How did you find out? 

Joseffy (becoming conscious of Laempfert 's marked 
composure) I should have gone to you the very first 
day. But you know how it is. Where our real feelings 
are concerned, we older men become hermits. It is a 
specious form of reserve, more befitting a boy in his 
adolescence. 

Laempfert. A day more or less, when you have been 
kept in ignorance so long — (He finishes with a little 
gesture) . 

Joseffy. Each day has been an eternity. I might 
not have known up to this present hour but for an acci- 
dent. I chanced on one of the bundles of books she 
brought back from Michigan, and thought I would help 
her by unpacking them. Among them were some Chris- 
tain Science pamphlets. (Painfully) There was more 
than that, however. 



22 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Laempfert {interposing) Just a moment. You don't 
think she left them there for you to find, so as to clear 
the way for explanations? 

Joseffy {taken aback) I never thought of that! {But 
the idea proves too repugnant) But it isn't like Sidonie! 
It's miles removed from her way of dealing with questions 
in which we have a common interest! {Even as he says 
this he realizes how ludicrous it sounds in the light of 
what has occurred). 

Laempfert. You've got to allow for her conscience. 
Concealing the facts has driven her to extremes. {Grum- 
bling at a private grievance) At best, our children really 
tell us nothing. They live pretty well as they please, and 
only use our affection to get what they want. 

Joseffy {trying to save the situation from utter moral 
collapse) Sidonie was undoubtedly waiting for a favor- 
able moment to come to me, Charles. It was only a mat- 
ter of time. {Hurriedly) Don't misunderstand me: she 
has a perfect right to read Christain Science literature if 
she chooses. It is her silence that wounds me. It shows 
the spirit in which the reading has been done. And the 
manner in which she has taken her recovery tells the 
rest. 

Laempfert. You're sure beyond a doubt? 

Joseffy {miserably) Beyond a doubt. 

Laempfert. How does Rosenthal figure in it? 

Joseffy. I can't lay my finger on that. He may have 
done nothing directly. But undoubtedly he was waiting 
for Sidonie to give some sign. She, on her part, may 
have been led by curiosity to see what he found in Eddy- 
ism. Oh. he's been careful! — undoubtedlv even when 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 23 

she visited him. (Apologetically) I had no right to 
keep her from seeing him, Charles. 

Laempfert. Better so. If you had shown the slight- 
est ill-feeling about her visiting him, she would have re- 
sented it — and gone anyway. 

Joseffy [wailing, even as faithful Jews wail before the 
crumbled walls of the Temple at Jerusalem) And now 
we have this! You should have seen her marginal notes 
on those pamphlets! — the explanations! — the arguments! 
She was reasoning as no Jew should. 

Laempfert (frowning) So! 

Joseffy (as if to have the recital over with after the 
long repression) I am not the sort of person who lends 
himself easily to suspicion. When I saw those pamphlets 
my first thought was that in some idle hour Sidonie, 
having somehow gotten hold of this literature, had turned 
her mind to answering a lot of metaphysical riddles, and 
answering them on Christain Science lines to see how they 
would work out. Then I remembered that at Frankfort 
she had gotten a postoffice box. What need had she for 
it at a summer place like that? — unless it was to re- 
ceive correspondence that might otherwise come under 
my eye the few times when I visited there this summer. 
But such correspondence would be necessary if she was 
receiving Christian Science "healing," as they call it. 
Well, in that case, money was needed. 

Laempfert. Unless her uncle footed the bills. 

Joseffy. Sidonie would not be likely to let him do 
that — don't you see? — if for no other reason than that 
no undue blame should fall on him when she finally told 
us. Of course, that did not stop me from the most dis- 
tressing conjectures. 



24 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Laempfert {with a snap of the jaws) Pretty bad! 
But I don't see how you could know that she got the 
"healing." She could pay for them in money-orders. 

Joseffy. She undoubtedly did so at Frankfort. But 
by the time she got home, the influence of Eddyism was 
bound to make her indifferent to concealment. Pre- 
cautions to keep from hurting us would not appear so 
necessary. You see? 

Laempfert (guessing correctly) Of course Sigmund 
let you see her last checks. 

Joseffy. You have as honest a cashier, Charles, as 
any bank in this country. I don't think he violated any 
confidence — 

Laempfert (shortly) You did exactly the right thing! 

Joseffy. I did not want to go directly to you, for I 
was not sure, and I didn't want to worry you. There 
have been moments since when I have felt it was like 
petty spying. But the very reason why Sigmund did not 
hesitate to show me the checks — because I was the 
spiritual head of the congregation to whi^h he belonged 
— was my moral right to see them! This affected more 
than Sidonie, more than your cashier, more than my- 
self. It concerned all Israel! 

Laempfert. You were entirely justified. 

Joseffy (with disgust) I found a check — to Mrs. 
Perkins. 

Laempfert. Mrs. Perkins? Oh, yes! — the healer 
whom Rosenthal defended. 

(Joseffy does not hear him. He is staring 
straight ahead, as if the check in question were in 
front of him ) . 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 25 

Joseffy {slowly) When I saw it, my cowardice was 
unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was to all in- 
tents and purposes an insane man for several hours. 

Laempfert. You should have come to me. Not be- 
cause I am the President of your synagogue — 

Joseffy. Ah, Charles, I was in deadly tear of having 
to talk to anyone! I took a taxicab, and drove to the 
outskirts of the city, where I wandered about. I tried to 
pray. The words strung along meaninglessly. (He wipes 
the perspiration from his forehead). Yet you see: I 
have been attending to routine things since. But my 
thoughts all this time have been simply other forms of 
madness. {Brokenly) I have even thought of demand- 
ing an explanation from her! 

Laempfert. If you do it carefully enough, it ought 
not to be so terrifying to ask for some explanation. I 
hardly see how it can be avoided. As a matter of fact, 
Sidonie would be better off for a talk. 

Joseffy. I have wondered whether the child has 
grasped the enormity of what she has done. It is true, 
she may have seized on this desperate remedy as a last 
resort. But if she has, what influence have I had over 
her? Nothing! And failing to keep her out of this 
fantastic Christianity, of what use can I have been to 
other people? 

Laempfert (showing impatience) We mustn't go off 
in a wrong direction. You owe more consideration than 
that to yourself. In the first place you've got to con- 
tinue showing how glad you are that she is better. 

Joseffy (since there is nothing stridently happy in 
Laempferfs tone) What are you thinking of? 

Laempfert. That you must be ready to explain to 



26 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie how she got well before she gets a chance to do 
so to the entire Jewish community. 

Joseffy (on the defensive) Aren't you taking an al- 
together hopeless view of it, Charles? Sidonie will speak 
to me before she speaks to anyone else. 

Laempfert. After Rosenthal, dare we take any 
chances? Would you have believed three years ago that 
your brother-in-law would turn Christian, and instead of 
being one of the mainstays of the synagogue, become a 
pillar in a Christian Science Church? Better to concede 
the worst, and be prepared! 

Joseffy (heroically trying to assume Laempfert 's im- 
personal view point) No, we can't afford to take chances. 

Laempfert. We dare not, Ephraim! The people 
here have a lot of respect for Sidonie's intelligence, and 
for what you have made of her mentally. If she follows 
her uncle, my daughter, and the next Jew's daughter, and 
the next will begin to think things they never thought 
before. 

Joseffy. Yes. If we are losers, we are utterly beg- 
gared. Understand, Charles, (resolutely) if I really 
believed that this quackery cured her, I might be willing 
to concede that there were grounds for examining it in 
an impartial manner! 

Laempfert (quickly) I am second to none in toler- 
ance. But this is only another brand of Christianity, 
and I simply won't take time to examine it! They have 
baited a new kind of trap for Jews; they call it Christian 
Science. Are we going to imperil our position by play- 
ing fair with them? You know how many of our best 
citizens — practical people, too — go to get their fortunes 
told. I tell you, there are very few well-balanced men 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 27 

and women. We've got to put our foot down on the 
whole thing — the way I stamped the life out of a snake 
in the woods this summer. It had to be done like a flash. 
(For a brief moment he silently relives the incident; then 
he is conscious of the anxiety of the man before him). 
Naturally, we will use the utmost discretion with Sidonie. 
We will have to humour her to get the desired result. 

Joseffy. Humour Sidonie? 

Laempfert (not to be caught at a disadvantage) We 
will appear to be making certain concessions to her 
honorableness, that's all. The end justifies the means. 
We are intelligent enough to see that our means are all 
right. 

Joseffy. Charles, if we are to do anything at all, 
it would be best to go straight to the mark. Otherwise 
we face possible humiliation. She will see through it, 
and she will have no respect for us. 

Laempfert. Are you sure, after all, that you really 
know Sidonie? I tell you, our children don't live in the 
same world that we do! Why, from the way you have 
been talking, you're not even certain that she has told 
the man she's going to marry! 

Joseffy. If she never told me, she never told Wil- 
liam. 

Laempfert. On the contrary, you must be prepared 
for anything; even for the possibility that Rabbi Pollitz 
does know, and in order to show her how liberal he is, 
has let her experiment with Christian Science. 

Joseffy (with a gesture of repugnance) What an 
idea! It's not like you! Come, Charles, be fair to Wil- 
liam. He may not be of big calibre, but he's a Jew at 
all times. 



28 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Laempfert. But look at it dispassionately! Being a 
minister does not make him any the less human. Sidonie'9 
continued illness has been hard on him. I must speak 
plainly to you, Ephraim! A man does not want to see 
the woman he cares for in a constant state of dejection, 
and an invalid. {As Joseffy turns away) Of course, 
you've thought of all that. But that hasn't made it easier 
for William Pollitz. I don't say that he told her to go 
ahead and try Christian Science. He simply may have 
winked at the whole thing. 

Joseffy. It would be too dishonest! No, you'll find 
I'm right. He is as ignorant of this as I was until I 
chanced on those pamphlets. We're fighting for him, too, 
Charles. His position is not going to be an enviable one, 
with the sort of congregation he has. 

Laempfert. Let's put Rabbi Pollitz aside for the 
time being. This primarily concerns you and Sidonie. 
I believe that you should so manage affairs as to give 
her a chance to drop quietly out of Christian Science. I 
would not try to be in a hurry about placing the blame. 
You have the advantage because you have had plenty of 
time to know what you are going to do and say. If you 
can manage it, do not regard this matter as affecting your 
own daughter. Otherwise you will be beaten before you 
start. (Heavily) I tell you, we have to consider self- 
interest. Those children of ours just walk all over our 
hopes. As I've watched Geraldine grow up, it doesn't 
seem possible that she is my own flesh and blood. Think 
of it! — the daughter of a banker, with position and social 
responsibilities, and yet unable to put one useful idea to 
work, constantly itching for excitement, and running 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 29 

after trifles! And you know how foolish I was ab^'it 
them when my children were little. 

JoSEFFY {beginning to pace the room) We dare not 
cease loving them, Charles. We will be old people in a 
few years, and they're the repository of all our ambitions 
and dreams. 

Laempfert (wih a snort of derision) To them we are 
old people already! But that's no reason why they 
should catch us at a disadvantage and laugh away our 
influence. We have more brains than they, and we will 
keep on ruling the world! (More quietly) As for Sid- 
onie, you must begin to prepare her mother. I don't 
suppose you've told her on account of her heart. (As 
Joseffy shakes his head) Well, her mother's heart trouble 
didn't keep Sidonie from going ahead. Tell Rose at 
once. (He forbears to read the other man a lecture on 
that score). 

Joseffy. With my own thoughts in confusion, it 
would have been too inconsiderate. 

Laempfert. After telling Rose, you've got to get hold 
of Rabbi Pollitz. If he doesn't know and you postpone 
telling him, he will feel that you don't trust him. He will 
never forgive you. 

Joseffy (beaten down by the accumulation of diffi- 
culties) Sidonie should be the one to speak to him. 

Laempfert. What do you know of her new idea of 
duty? 

Joseffy. No matter what comfort she derives from 
this religion, in her heart she can't be very happy with 
this situation as it exists. 

Laempfert. Exactly. You have got to relieve her 



30 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

anxiety. In your place I would not postpone talking to 
her. 

Joseffy {making up his mind suddenly and stopping 
in front of Laempfert) Very well! I'll talk to her to- 
day — if possible while you're here. She has a great deal 
of respect for you, and would not judge it to be odd that 
you should have been called into the family council. Is 
that all right? 

Laempfert. Just as you wish. I want to see it 
through. {Abruptly) Are you sure she doesn't suspect 
that you know? 

Joseffy. She has been too preoccupied, and we have 
not been thrown together very much since her return. 
She has changed, Charles. I can't explain what it is. 
You will see it. Yet physically she seems so— {he 
seeks the right word) — so sure-footed. 

Laempfert {sweeping it all aside as merely becloud- 
ing the issue) You have your intellect and your will 
power. She cannot ignore you. The approaching Holy 
Days will help you, too. The more I think of it, the 
less likely it seems that she can go very far in Christian 
Science. 

Joseffy. Yet I can't approach her smilingly to dis- 
arm her. {Reaching out for a greater show of sym- 
pathy) Do you realize from what sort of a basis I have 
to make my start? This wretched child has been im- 
mersed for perhaps three months in a new religion of 
which she demanded a miracle. She has gone through 
all that, and comes home — without giving a sign of what 
she has been about. The Holy Days were discussed in 
her presence, and she said nothing. Mind you, here was 
I talking of our God and our Holy Days; and there she 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 31 

was, thinking of another God, the deity Mary Baker 
Eddy assembled out of the Old and New Testaments by 
distorting the plain facts of both books! We were two 
people maintaining a position essentially dishonest, and 
particularly dangerous because Sidonie and I are religi- 
ous to the core! I had to keep reminding myself that 
I was more than her father: that I was a leader in 
Israel; else I was ready to let matters drift. It is like 
a curse, Charles. 

{There are two quick, soft taps on the door 
leading from the hall. Joseffy turns impatiently; 
then goes to open the door. Mrs. Joseffy stands 
looking down at them hesitatingly, and with evi- 
dent uneasiness). 
Joseffy (as she waits) Charles is the only one here, 
Rose. You can come in. 

(She does so, with her characteristically stac- 
cato gait). 

Mrs. Joseffy. How do you do, Charles? 

Laempfert (cordially) Hello! Getting settled? 

Mrs. Joseffy. I have to answer the door myself. 
Neither of my maids came back, and the cook, I am sure, 
doesn't like Jews, and is glad that she doesn't have to go 
to the door to open it, except when I am upstairs. (To 
her husband) Did they treat you all right at the Exer- 
cises? 

Joseffy (absently) Yes. 

Mrs. Joseffy (smilingly, to Laempfert) I am waiting 
for the afternoon papers to see what he said. 

Laempfert. The reporters will only pick out the 
things the public is likely to misinterpret. 



32 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Joseffy {earnestly) Why didn't you come with me to 
the Exercises, Rose? I had a strange feeling about going 
up alone. Although it must be stranger to you to hear 
me say so. 

Mrs. Joseffy {without looking at him) There was 
so much to do. I will go next time. {It is inadequate, 
and she laughs a little). William called up before you 
came. He said that he had something to tell you. 

Joseffy (in a strained voice) So? Did he give any 
indication of what it was? 

Mrs. Joseffy. He seemed very happy about it. You 
will stay for lunch, Charles? 

Laempfert {who has been eyeing her searchingly) 
No, thanks, Rose. I must get back. (For Joseffy's bene- 
fit) I must stay long enough, though, to learn what is 
making Rabbi Pollitz happy, if he is coming right up. 

Mrs. Joseffy. He ought to be here now. (Scolding) 
You never will call him "William"! 

Laempfert (puckering up his brow with an air of 
amusement) I'm afraid he might call me "Charlie." 

Joseffy. That's not so bad. (As they turn to him 
questioningly) If he's happy, there is only one thing 
that would make him so — his selection for some other 
pulpit. 

Mrs. Joseffy. That would be fine! 

Laempfert. And you, a rabbi's wife, not knowing 
right off what would make a young rabbi happy! 

Mrs. Joseffy. William is certainly a hard worker. 
(As her husband says nothing) Ephraim, you think so, 
don't you? 

Joseffy. I believe I know the pulpit that has 
been offered him. I would be disappointed if he abrupt- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 33 

ly dropped his congregation just because they and he 
have not agreed on his year's continuance and have not 
entered into any formal contract. 

Laempfert (to set joseffy right) I'm pretty sure they 
only let him stay out of respect for you, Ephraim. You 
know how publicly he voiced his disapproval of them 
and their methods. All the same, he is a clever fellow, 
with rather fixed ideas about how to get on. 

Joseffy (irritably) To get on in the pulpit, Charles! 
You know how often that sort of success is merely the 
public's applause for oratory given over to comfortable 
platitudes. (With a sigh) However, I suppose we must 
tolerate that for the sake of the other things that have to 
be accomplished. 

Laempfert. We happen to live in a very practical 
world, Ephraim. Rabbi Pollitz calls a bigger pulpit 
"success" because he undoubtedly claims the bigger 
pulpit demands the bigger man. 

Mrs. Joseffy (to her husband) You look very tired. 
Are you sure you are feeling well? 

Joseffy (rousing himself and making a very evident 
effort to shake off his depression) Yes. I am just a 
little anxious about something. (He puts his two hands 
on his wife's two frail shoulders) . Rose, you are an 
amazingly helpful person for all your weak heart! (He 
bends down and kisses her). 

Mrs. Joseffy (turning her head in Laempferfs direc- 
tion) A weak heart, Charles, can't be very helpful for 
a rabbinical head. So Ephraim must be sort of an ex- 
ception. 

Joseffy. Rose, something is going to be discussed 
here this morning that may be a little trying to you. It 



34 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

would be folly to keep you ignorant of it, but you must 
meet it with a composed mind. You should be prepared 
for it before I meet William today. 

Mrs. Joseffy (with a quaver in her voice) If you 
mean Sidonie's interest in Christian Science — I know 
about that. {Her whole body flutters under the two 
hands that are still resting on her shoulders) . 

Joseffy (dumbfounded, his hands dropping to his 
sides) Why didn't you tell me? 

Mrs. Joseffy (as if there could be no other reason) 
Sidonie will tell you. 

Joseffy. But she didn't, Rose! 

Mrs. Joseffy (with finality) Then she wasn't ready 
to do so. (Becoming aware of his great distress) We 
must be very careful with her, Ephraim. 

Joseffy. Is that why you didn't tell me? 

Mrs. Joseffy. It was all too much for me. I didn't 
know what to do or how you would take it. 

Joseffy (shaking himself together, and seeking to 
rekindle her confidence) We are all of us going to do 
the right thing. It isn't too late. You're not to become 
a prey to excitement. Rose. 

Mrs. Joseffy. I am glad you told Charles. 

Laempfert (slowly) I don't know that I've got my 
bearings yet sufficiently to be of much use to you all. 

Mrs. Joseffy (alarmed by the way this is edged 
with disapproval) You must avoid frightening William, 
Ephraim, or make him miserable. He is a very young 
man yet, for all his cleverness. 

Laempfert (coldly) My dear Rose, if I were you, 
I wouldn't worry about him. He can take care of him- 
self. Our principal concern is Sidonie. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 35 

(Whatever Laempfert's intention, his words 
make no impression on his hearer whose thoughts 
are with her husband. Joseffy is now near the 
window, with his arms folded, and gazing blank- 
ly into space) . 

Mrs. Joseffy {coming over to him, and touching him 
timidly on the arm) What are you thinking of, Ephraim? 

Joseffy (turning to her) Why has Sidonie for once 
misjudged my understanding? Where are our bonds 
of common interest? In what sort of a fool's paradise 
as father and daughter have we been living all these 
years? 

Mrs. Joseffy. You mustn't try to twist your thoughts 
around like that! (She catches sight through the win- 
dow of someone who is passing). It's William! Now, 
Ephraim, please put this off. It would be better for 
Sidonie to tell him. A day cannot make much differ- 
ence! 

Joseffy. Rose, what is it that we are trying to post- 
pone? 

Laempfert (emphatically) He is right. Ephraim 
mustn't be caught at a disadvantage with Pollitz, and 
leave himself open to the question as to why he has 
waited all this time. With a man like Rabbi Pollitz you 
have to lay your cards on the table, and do it quick! 

(There is a pause of expectancy. The buzz of 
of the electric bell makes the three shift a little 
in their places. Then Mrs. Joseffy goes out into 
the hall. 

(A man's voice is heard saying, "Howdy, 



36 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

mother!" and the man himself soon appears with 
his arm through that of Mrs. Joseffy. 

{Rabbi Pollitz is short, wiry, with a rather 
small, round head, black and very curly hair, 
and shrewd, quizzical brown eyes. He gives an 
impression of being constantly in motion, and 
when speaking his gestures are a picturesque 
elaboration of his thoughts. His voice ranges 
from a low guttural of sociability to an argu- 
mentative sharpness. He has plenty of dignity, 
but it easily slips off under the stress of excite- 
ment. It would be next to impossible to surmise 
his profession from his munner or his appear- 
ance. Unlike Dr. Joseffy he does not wear min* 
isterial garb). 

Pollitz. Hello, everybody! (He comes over to 
shake hands with Laempfert) . 

Laempfert (giving his hand with a touch of condes- 
cension) How do you do? 

Pollitz (thoroughly at ease) I do very well, I have 
just been talking with the president of another synagogue. 
Lichtenberg is developing sufficient poise to give his syn- 
agogue an "A-One" rating — except when he tries to fol- 
low my verbal contortions. Then it's like a lion trying 
to snare a fly with his paws. (Pollitz draws two cigars 
out of his vest pocket, and extends one to Laempfert) . 
I got these from him. We are not on such bad terms, 
despite all the wrangling we have had about our con- 
gregation, our trustees, and our mutual disrespect. 

Laempfert (who has given several vigorous shakes 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 37 

of the head in refusal of the cigar) No, thank you. I 
have gone back to cigarettes lately. 

Pollitz. Lichtenberg's opinion of a cigarette-smok- 
ing Jewish business man would be a discourse on the 
bankruptcy of Judaism. I thought I had a match. {He 
finds one, lights his cigar, and blowing out perfect rings 
of smoke as he walks across the room, is unconscious of 
the odd quietness of the Joseffys and Laempfert. He 
espies the cap and gown on the settle. To Joseffy) Ah, 
so you shared honors with the Governor at the Univer- 
sity! With the difference that you began with a quota- 
tion, and he with a comic anecdote. Have I guessed 
right? 

Joseffy (with an effort) It seemed to be a serious 
occasion for both of us. 

Pollitz. Then why didn't you try the anecdote? 
{To Mrs. Joseffy) Sidonie in? How is she? Wonder- 
ful, eh? God bless her! 

Mrs. Joseffy (stumbling over the two words) All 
fight. 

Pollitz. That spells progress! I'm for leaving her 
get all the rest she wants. No activities of any kind. We 
mustn't take everything for granted. She's like a fine 
watoh. Going right, thank the Lord — but don't get 
clumsy with it! 

Mrs. Joseffy (welcoming this) Yes, William; we 
can't be too careful. 

Pollitz. And now there's a new wrinkle. (Looks 
ut his cigar thoughtfully, and indulges in an impressive 
pause). The outlook is that I will be as busy as some 
of those social rabbis when they suddenly have to brush 
up on their Hebrew, except that mine is a social prob- 



38 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

lem. {To Joseffy) It isn't often that we can break had 
news to the president of our synagogue, and do it cheer- 
fully. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Do sit down, William, and tell it 
properly! 

Pollitz. In honor to the occasion, it should be told 
standing up. 

Laempfert. Then by all means tell it standing up! 

Mrs. Joseffy. I won't have him teased, Charles. 

(Pollitz laughs good naturedly. Joseffy goes 
to the settle and becomes a limp study in patience). 

Pollitz. It is simply this: Congregation Beth 
Elohim of Louisville finds Bittner too ill for the New 
Year services and too old to continue his work, and has 
asked me to take his pulpit at once if possible. No 
trial sermon, no Bertillon finger print methods to as- 
certain my intellectual fitness. And here I have always 
been saying that the young rabbi was merely an object 
lesson in failure to whom successful men in the con- 
gregation could point as a warning to their sons when 
they got too impossible ! 

Laempfert {to Joseffy) Wasn't PfeifFer of Louis- 
ville here last week to see you? 
Pollitz (sharply) Was he? 

{For a moment he eyes the banker haughtily, 
his cigar no longer in his mouth. Theh he turns 
with assumed indifference to listen to Joseffy's 
reply). 

Joseffy {without positiveness) I think they had de- 
cided on William before PfeifFer came here. Thev have 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 39 

been greatly worried about Bittner's health. Pfeiffer, 
when he dropped in on me, spoke about Sidonie, and it 
is possible that he thought William might prefer to re- 
main here, now that Sidonie was somewhat better. (He 
has found his way with difficulty through the explana- 
tion) . 

Pollitz (with evident relief) Say, that was thought- 
ful of Pfeiffer, wasn't it? Now, that's the sort of thing 
my congregation is incapable of! Do you wonder that 
we have been like Kilkenny cats? Not having arranged 
definitely with them for this year, I'm foot-loose. That's 
providence for you! (To Mrs, Joseffy) It will be rather 
hard for you to see me and Sidonie walk ofT. But it 
was to be expected that sooner or later I would have to 
pack up my spiritual handbag, study a map of the roads 
in our little U-S-A, and pass the word to her. 

Joseffy (solemnly) After our period of unrest, we 
eventually find perfect accord within and without, and 
then our wanderings cease. I have known individuals 
who wandered a lifetime to find perfect accord with 
God. Of course, (getting to his feet) I congratulate you 
on this call. I know thaft you will do well by your 
people. 

Pollitz. Righto! Thanks! 

(The two men shake hands. Then Pollitz goes 
over to Mrs. Joseffy and kisses her. When he 
turns to Laemptfert, the latter comes from be- 
hind the library table and extends his hand). 

Laempfert (as the other grasps and shakes it) I be- 
lieve that if there is one position that is built by the ef- 
forts of the man who occupies it, it is the pulpit! 

Pollitz (warmed by the general felicitations) 



40 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Thanks! Thanks! But without any wish to argue, I 
am not so sure that the rabbi can always dictate the 
conditions under which he works. If he could, I would 
not lock forward with such pleasure to the farewell ser- 
mon I am going to preach. There's nothing to the new 
generation that I've been supervising; it's as flat as the 
proverbial pancake. And the older generation has 
grubbed away its intelligence making money for the newer 
one to spend. Saying the truth has hurt me more than 
it has hurt them. It wouldn't be so bad if on top of it 
all they weren't cynics and didn't have contempt for 
the young rabbis they are underpaying. Now that I 
depart, my congregation will discover virtues in me that 
I never really possessed. I could see it in the way 
Lichtenberg treated me when I told him. Why, I was 
almost the equal of the folks he plays poker with at 
the Club! 

Joseffy. You would both have grown, William — 
congregation and minister. Life unfolds through the 
Synagogue more than you yet know. 

Pollitz. Life in my congregation unfolds through 
gossip. Your congregation is different. You got a start 
of them, and they never headed you off. You will re- 
member that when you came in charge twenty-five years 
ago, religion still bore an appearance of awe for the 
average man. Now it is often a method of advertising re- 
spectability and worldly success. Oh, I've tried hard 
enough to introduce Judaism among my people. {With 
a shrug of the shoulders) I think that a good deal of my 
trouble is that for a young rabbi I look too much like 
a Jew. 

Jo c fffy (feelmg his irav) William, suppose Sidonie 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 4i 

were to ask you to stay on in Pittsburgh because she be- 
lieved that the greater spiritual opportunity was here^ 

Pollitz (promptly) No, she won't! Trust her to 
know what's best for me! She isn't going to ignore our 
future. And don't worry about my congregation! This 
is the most valuable lesson they could possibly get. In- 
stead of dressing the ministry in robes of gold, they put 
the rabbi in the same class as the second-hand clothes 
man. 

Laempfert. May I suggest that possibly you 
stroked the fur the wrong way? 

Pollitz. If you mean by that my speaking right out 
about their failings, I answer Yes to the indictment. 
Since I couldn't influence them by fervor, I put pins 
in them. I'll admit that their attitude in return wasn't 
encouraging. It took all the punch out of my embryo 
leadership. I reached the point where it didn't seem 
worth while for me to extend myself, except when I was 
invited to deliver some address elsewhere. After they see 
my picture in the newspapers here, and the write-up I'm 
going to get from my newspaper friends, my congrega- 
tion will remind each other that I had eloquence, that I 
was something of a Hebrew scholar, that I was really a 
religious man, and my wit will not be regarded merely 
as a form of impertinence. (To Jcseffy) Your crowd is 
different. While you speak to your congregation of God, 
I have to explain my congregation to God. Sounds blas- 
phemous, I know; but it comes mighty near being the 
truth ! 

Mrs. Joseffy {refusing to take him seriously) Wil- 
liarri, your bark is worse than your bite; 



42 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Pollitz (laughing unaffectedly) My bark has teeth 
in it, all the same! 

Joseffy {with dignity) It is true, William, that fre- 
quently the minister has to play the part of the prompter, 
to put the words of God into the mouths of men. But 
that serves for the time being until we find the shortest 
road to understanding. 

Mrs. Joseffy {interposing) Now, Ephraim, you know 
that William has done very well, all things considered. 
Many of the people in his congregation are impossible. 
They are the sort of people who were always calling 
on Moses for miracles. 

Pollitz (with a deep bow to her, his hand on his 
heart) Thank you for those kind words! Putting me 
in the same class with Moses is some recommendation! 
You're all right, mutterchen! You stand up for me, and 
I'll give you a successful man for a son-in-law. 

Joseffy (coming forward) I have stood up for you, 
too, William, as you know. I did not speak lightly just 
now when I suggested that you stay in Pittsburgh. A 
rather unexpected element has been injected into our 
various problems. For some of us it may prove a very 
trying element that will test us to the utmost. 

Pollitz (looking at him wonderingly) Hello! What's 
the matter now? You aren't going to give a counter- 
blast to my good news? 

Mrs. Joseffy. Ephraim, it is possible that we take 
an extreme view — 

Pollitz. I thought yau said Sidonie was all right! 

Laempfert (feeling it incumbent upon him to reduce 
the tension) She is all right and is going to stay all 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 43 

right. (To Mrs. Joseffy) Ephraim has gone over the 
ground carefully with me, Rose. You can leave it to 
him. 

Pollitz. You're almost as mysterious as I was with 
Lichtenberg when I began to break the news! Anyway, 
I refuse to be upset! A man who has gotten a better 
job can well say with Mr. Browning, "God's in His 
heaven, and all's well with the world!" 

Joseffy (clumsily) You know, William, that we 
called in the very best medical help available to find out 
what was the trouble with Sidonie. 

Pollitz (wrinkling his forehead with surmise) Of 
course you did. 

Joseffy. The fact that the biggest men we could get 
seemed at a loss only indicated that science had not got- 
ten that far. It does not lessen the grandeur of their 
goal. 

Pollitz (puzzled by the defence of the medical pro- 
fession) It didn't improve their guessing. The doctors 
have made an art of throwing up a smoke screen of 
words and hiding their ignorance behind it. If a chemist 
or engineer would resort to guesswork like that and 
collect fees, he would land in jail! 

Laempfert (curtly) Isn't that a little sweeping? 
I don't suppose you're addicted to home remedies for 
your ills. 

Pollitz. Oh, I follow the crowd and get into the 
clutches of a physician from time to time. A drowning 
man catches at straws. But I've heard some of my 
medical friends make their private confessions. They 
know what side their bread is buttered on, and it isn't 



44 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

buttered on the side of truth all the time. However, if 
I may revamp a well known witticism: the average man's 
trust in the doctor is the triumph of hope over experi- 
ence. (Shaking his head) Sidonie was bound to g6t 
well without their assistance; 

Joseffy (troubled by this attitude) You can't be seri- 
ous! The religious man of today must stand before 
science as before a special revelation, young as science 
may be, and for all its groping. However, I am get- 
ting off the point. I am going to ask, William, whether 
from what you have seen of Sidonie you have any fear of 
her relapsing to her previous condition. 

Pollitz (cheerfully) I don't see why she shouldn't 
make progress from now on. In cases of nervous dis- 
orders, — and that's what I think it is — the mental atti- 
tude is the main thing. The very fact that she has taken 
the first step in shaking off her weakness will create a 
state of mind that will make the next step easier. I've 
given it a lot of thought. I've been expecting some such 
change all a!on2". Until lhat change came, it was my 
business to keep her cheerful and off the morbid — yes, 
even when she was almost rebellious about my trying to 
make her laugh! (Chuckling) A mighty good start for 
a prospective husband. 

Mrs. Joseffy. She will need a lot of cheering up 
yet, William. 

Pollitz. There's a lot more where the rest came 
from. Well, folks, she has certainly handed us something 
to be grateful for as a start for the coming New Year! 

Joseffy. Hasn't she spoken to you of just when the 
change came about? 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 45 

Pollitz. I say!- — it isn't anything serious, is it? Has 
it anything to do with our future married life? Be as 
free as you like. We're all grown-up people here. 

Joseffy (slowly) No, it isn't that. What I would 
like to know is whether Sidonie told you how she got 
well. 

Pollitz. How she got well? Why, no. I had an 
idea that she didn't know herself how it came about. 
(Then he begins to stumble along in silent inquiry; and 
before Joseffy can frame his qnswer, Pollitz finds it) . 
She turned to her uncle, did she? 

Joseffy (haltingly) I am not so sure. In all likeli- 
hood she did. 

Pollitz (after a pause) That's bad! (Quickly) 
She hasn't been talking about it in public? 

Mrs. Joseffy (sharply) Why, of course, she hasn't! 

Joseffy. I wouldn't speak with such assurance, Rose. 

Pollitz. On second consideration, I don't think she 
has. But that's no guarantee that she won't. Well, she 
certainly has got me guessing! 

Mrs. Joseffy (grieved) William! 

Pollitz. It's all right, mutterchen. It happened to 
strike me that for a stickler for Judaism like Sidonie 
to resort to "Science and Health" must literally have 
meant hell for her. 

Joseffy (vehemently) At least we know that the 
book never healed her! 

Pollitz. How do we know? Cures through sug- 
gestion are no new thing. (Thoughtfully) She must be 
pretty badly tangled up in it since she is feeling better. 
What a time she must have reconciling Mary Baker 
Eddy and Moses! 



46 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Joseffy {shortly) Sydney Rosenthal could never re- 
concile them. How can she? 

Pollitz. Well, that's no reason why she shouldn't be 
trying. But let's forget her uncle; her case isn't in the 
same class. We can make Sidonie see reason, whereas 
there never was any hope for him. We've got to admit 
that she had a better excuse for fooling around the 
font of perpetual life and divine mind than her uncle. 
Rosenthal weighed approximately two hundred pounds 
and had a good appetite. It's true that when that amount 
of avoirdupois gets romantic, it goes the limit! What 
but an incurably romantic disposition made him rush to 
the defence of the Perkins woman when that sick child 
died on her hands? Whatever made him turn Christian 
Scientist but the romantic desire to be on the side he de- 
fended? Then he laps up Eddyism like a cat lapping 
up cream: romantic fervor again! What mattered the 
high place it cost him in the Jewish community! What 
mattered the synagogue of which he was a president 
which was endangered by what he did! — 

Mrs. Joseffy {with quiet emphasis) William! {As 
he pauses) There are times when you do want to be an 
orator. 

{Pollitz is awakened to the fact that she has 
been a listener to his tirade. He is genuinely 
sorry, and going over to her, takes her hand and 
pats it). 

Pollitz. Be forgiving to stupidity and you'll be 
kind to me. I don't know how I came to lose the feel- 
ing that he is your brother. I wouldn't hurt you for the 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 47 

world! That's right, isn't it? {He puts her hand against 
his cheek, and sways his head from side to side). 

Joseffy. We gain nothing by emphasizing Sydney 
Rosenthal's contribution to this state of affairs. 

Pollitz (still holding Mrs. Joseffy's hand against his 
cheek) Sounds like Hamlet with Hamlet left out. 

Joseffy. Sidonie will meet us with the statement that 
she is no longer an invalid. What better argument does 
she need? 

Pollitz. And will point out that we, a couple of 
theologians, weren't of the slightest help to her. (He 
turns to Laempfert) We've got to get busy, that's all! 
Train our guns on her delusions, and blow the whole 
thing away. 

Laempfert (annoyed by Pollitz* s fluctuating moods) 
Let us hope so. 

Pollitz. What are her wits against ours, despite all 
her training in religious thought? 

Mrs. Joseffy. But no arguments, William! 

Pollitz (spreading out his two hands) Mutterchen, 
we break no butterflies on the wheel. As ministers, it is 
our business to be circumspect about the sex that creates 
so many complex problems with respect to their souls. 

Joseffy (irritably) Do be serious! Don't you realize 
that on our threshold is possibly the most overwhelm- 
ing difficulty we have encountered in our lives? 

Laempfert (to strengthen the rebuke) It's not how 
grave it is now. It's how grave it will become. 

Pollitz (driven to the opposite position by his dis- 
like of the banker) Well, as far as I'm concerned, I 
refuse to be upset about it! My guess is that when we 



48 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

get her properly enthusiastic about my new pulpit, and 
broach the question of our beccming man and wife at 
a near date, we will find the old-time Sidonie again. She 
lived too much by herself up there in Michigan during the 
last three months. I'm sorry my summer studies at 
Chicago tied me up; but the sooner I get the "D. D." 
at the end of my name, the better all around. {Finding 
in Laempfert's cold stare an accusation of evasion) 
I've never been an occupant of the mourner's bench. 

Laempfert {brushing imaginary cigarette ashes from 
his vest) I may be an easily frightened man, but this 
looks exceptionally serious to me. I wonder that you 
can be so easy in your mind about it. 

Pollitz. It may be we who are making it serious by 
going to extremes, Mr. Laempfert. 

Joseffy. We must have foresight, William! 

Mrs. Joseffy {at no one in particular) It seems so 
strange that you should be nagging William when he is 
trying to do what he thinks is right! I'm glad he's not 
worried. You are extreme, Ephraim. I'm surprised at 
you! 

Joseffy. Do I have to tell you, Rose, what my love 
for that child means? 

Laempfert. We would be fools if we didn't prepare 
for eventualities. 

Pollitz. Very well! We'll get Sidonie down for 
the news I have for her. Then we will have a calm 
little chat with her. No bull in the china shop methods! 
She is too fragile for that. But she will want the chat — 
and the help. Is she at home? {Mrs. Joseffy. to whom 
this is addressed, nods helplessly). Don't you worry. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 49 

mutterchen! We'll make her comfortable, and let her 
unburden herself. It's the best thing for her, and she's 
expecting it, and perhaps praying for it. So don't look 
as if you were going to sacrifice your only daughter on 
the altar of our logic. 

Mrs. Joseffy {at bay) Perhaps she should talk to 
you. But none of you will forget your importance. 

Pollitz {laughing) We shall be humble. We shan't 
use our masculine prerogative to thump our chests like 
big bass drums. Having been the wife of a rabbi, the 
big bass drum ought not to frighten you. {With a 
glance at Joseffy) I know that the head of the house is 
thinking that I'm fiddling while Rome is burning! — 

{The effort to lessen the strain fails, and he is 
left flat in gesture and tone. Mrs. Joseffy goes 
over to her husband, and he puts his arms about 
her silently) . 

Mrs. Joseffy. Perhaps it is the only way, Ephraim. 

Joseffy. You are willing? 

Mrs. Joseffy. All this uncertainty can't go on any 
longer. It's of her I'm thinking. 

Joseffy. We must be prepared for the shock of find- 
ing a totally different individual from the one we expect. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes, but she has to be prepared for 
us, too. 

Pollitz {promptly) Knowing Sidonie, I would say 
she is! If, however, we find that she becomes restive, 
we can* stop right there and call it a day's work. 

Joseffy {as if the decision had been in his hand?, 
from the first) Very well. But there must be no belit- 
tling of fundamentals, William. You cannot make it 



50 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

look like some harmless escapade, and let it go at that. 
Better silence than indecision! 

Pollitz. That will depend on Sidonie. If we don't 
walk gingerly, there, waiting for her, are the arms of 
her uncle. 

Laempfert {looking at his watch) The morning is 
going very fast. 

Pollitz. Ah, you mustn't overlook how far we have 
travelled in the last few minutes. Now we'll go on our 
errand of mercy. (To Mrs. Joseffy) Steady, all! 

Mrs. Joseffy (hopefully) You are very good, Wil- 
liam. 

Pollitz. I carry the great umbrella of success against 
all storms. That's the explanation! 

Laempfert. You must extend it far enough to cover 
Sidonie, Mr. Pollitz. 

Pollitz (with a bow) I will let her have it all, if 
necessary. 

(Feeding that he has had the last word, he 
jauntily goes to the rear door, and steps into the 
hall. He gives two sharp whistles. Soon in 
answer comes an echo of his call. 

(At the sound, Joseffy, who is near the table, 
looks nervously in Laempfert's direction. That 
man, who has comfortably ensconced himself in 
a chair beside the fireplace, his knees crossed, and 
his plump hands clasped in his lap, is staring at 
the floor. Joseffy looks in the direction of his 
wife. She has found her way to the settle, where 
she sits very erect with frightened eyes. He goes 
over to her. and bending down, ivhispers some- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 51 

thing. She makes a dismal attempt to smile. He 
strokes her hair as he watches the door through 
which Pollitz has gone. 

(The meeting of the lovers at the foot of the 
stairs has been out of view of those in the room. 
When the two appear, Pollitz's arm is about 
Sidonie's waist, and his head is tipped affection- 
ately against hers. Sidonie, at first glance, sug- 
gests neither the stamina nor astuteness necessary 
to counter the indignation or calm judgment of 
anyone of the three men. She is of medium 
height, fragile, with dark, regular features, lack- 
lustre brown eyes, a wide forehead that is per- 
haps a little too broad for classic proportions, 
and has a great quantity of raven hair. Her 
motions are slow, as if she were uncertain of the 
strength at her command. Her tone is as dull as 
her eyes; but when she is roused, her voice be- 
comes metallically sharp. At such moments she 
does not so much convey the impression of mental 
flexibility as of stubbornness that will persist 
along a certain line of thinking. Were the color 
of good health in her cheeks, and a happy light 
in her eyes, she could be readily catalogued as 
an "attractive" girl ) . 

Pollitz {uproariously) Hello, people! Look upon 
the Daughter of Heaven ! She almost came running down 
the stairs! Even allowing for the proper incentive that 
was waiting at the foot of the stairs, it was going some! 

(Mrs. Joseffy has gotten Ujp and is about to 
come forward, but pauses when Sidonie speaks ) . 



52 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie. How are you, Mr. Charles? 

(Laempfert gravely walks over to her, and as 
she extends her hand, takes it, and without speak- 
ing, resolutely leads her to the settle, Pollitz re- 
linquishing her with a laugh). 

Laempfert. You must lie down. You have no busi- 
ness going up and down stairs. 

{Her mother is at once at Sidonie , s side, when 
the latter lies down, fixes the cushions under her 
head and draws up a chair beside her. Joseffy 
goes behind the library table; Pollitz stands in 
front of the fireplace; Laempfert takes a chair 
near the foot of the settle). 
Sidonie (speaking very loiv) It is so dear of you all! 
How is Geraldine, Mr. Charles? 

Laempfert. Very, very busy. Occupied with the 
trying ambition of self-entertainment. She has read all 
the silly novels, seen all the silly plays, danced all the 
exciting dances, and now wants a high-powered car. 

Sidonie. That wasn't the daughter of yours that came 
to see me yesterday. 

Laempfert. Oh, I'll admit she's a clever child! But 
she will have to be more clever than that to get her fast 
car! 

Sidonie. You could share the use of that kind of a 
car. 

Laempfert (breaking into a smile) You're almost 
as bad as she is! 

Pollitz. Sidonie in a high-powered car, dusting the 
pedestrians off the street, would be a sight for the gods. 
(Rubbing his hands gleefully) That reminds me, Sid, 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 53 

that you and I face the prospect of living on a new plane 
of existence. Guess where? 

Sidonie {turning her head in his direction) I don't 
understand, Billy. 

Pollitz. My dear, Horace Greeley, didn't have couples 
in mind when he spoke about going west. You and I 
shall stop off at Louisville. Make something of that with 
your woman's wit! 

Sidonie. Louisville? (Pleased) Oh! So they have 
decided, after all, to give Dr. Bittner an assistant. And 
it's you, Billy! 

Pollitz (drawing himself up) An assistant, did you 
say? The future, my dear, should never be a pale under- 
study for the past. I wouldn't want to be a cabin boy 
to his captaincy, just because the bark is named "Louis- 
ville." Nor do I want to alternate with him in the pulpit 
for the sake of the arguments that fit into his mental 
Noah's ark. No. Bittner will at last have time to devote 
himself to both his English and his Hebrew — good hob- 
bies, too, I assure you! 

Sidonie. You're never as cruel as you sound, Billy. 
So we won't pay any attention to that, will we, daddy? 

Joseffy (coming out of his thoughts with a start) 
What? 

Sidonie (turning away her head and shutting her eyes) 
Billy, daddy didn't even hear you. I'm glad Louisville 
asked you. They're very nice people. (Turning to him 
again) But what about your congregation here? What 
are they going to do during the Holy Days? 

Pollitz. Sid, there is an old song entitled "Absence 
makes the heart grow fonder." That's me, and that's 
them. 



54 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie. You'll have to correct your thought on that, 
Billy. {Immediately, as if that was not quite the phrase- 
ology she would have preferred to use then and there) 
What you said sounded positively vindictive! 

Joseffy {clearing his throat) William's affairs are 
entirely his own, of course. But I was thinking — in fact, 
I had suggested — 

Sidonie {as he hesitates) Yes, do speak up, daddy 
doodles. {Brightly) Why, except for Billy, we are all 
as solemn as if he had been offered a position in some 
little town in Mississippi! After all, he is going to get 
the work he wanted. 

Joseffy {clumsily essaying cheerfulness) I don't 
think, dear, that any solemnity of ours could put a dam- 
per on William. 

Sidonie. Good for you, dad! {She throws him a 
kiss. He moves restlessly in his seat even as he smiles 
in response). 

Pollitz {referring to the kiss) A prima donna could 
not have done it more gracefully or naturally. 

Sidonie. I remember we interrupted dad, Billy. 

Joseffy {hesitating with the difficulty of making a 
new start) The fact is — what I wanted to say was — 
since his leaving his congregation just before the Holy 
Days would impose a hardship on it, William might ask 
that the Louisville call be held over until he can get 
away with better grace. Of course, the bigger step would 
be to refuse the Louisville call altogether, and to throw 
a beam of light before these backward people here by the 
unexpected sacrifice. 

Pollitz {almost crossly) The most tragic thing in 
life is misplaced goodness. In my case it would throw 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 55 

out of gear all the machinery of ambition I've got. It's 
a darned sight harder for a little man to reach up to the 
top shelf of the world where the good things are kept. 
Sidonie {turning her head to look out of the window) 
I think Billy is on the right road, dad. You have always 
said that for people not to go right ahead when they 
have the enthusiasm is as bad as a defeat. 

Pollitz. Spoken like a good Jewess! -There's the 
history of our race in a nutshell — ever seeking the free- 
dom of spirit through the joy of achievement. We are 
Henri Bergson's Time, the ultimate reality! 

Sidonie (a little more alert) Is Bergson your latest 
love, Billy? You'll have to tell me all about him. 

Pollitz. He happens to be another Jew who has 
dropped a bombshell of original thought into the camp 
of the commonplace. 

Sidonie (her gaze still averted) It seems to me, Billy, 
that as Jews we have too much vanity about what we do. 
I know that as a Zionist you don't like me to say that. 
I always argued against our race egotism when daddy 
read me his sermons, and I now feel sure that I was right. 
Our spirituality isn't Jewish only. It's God's gift to 
every human being. 

(This has been quite an effort for her, and her 
eyes shut wearily. Her auditors, aware of a new 
and impelling thought behind the words, are quick 
to react to them; but the reaction varies with 
each of her hearers. Pollitz is merely curious; 
Joseffy tries to conceal his dismay; Laempfert is 
angry; Mrs. Joseffy shoivs fear), 

Laempfert (harshly) That sounds rather hard on a 



56 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

people who have sought nothing but their legitimate 
place, and have had to fight every inch of the way. 

Sidonie {opening her eyes, and turning to face him) 
But, Mr. Charles, I don't quite know what the Jew's legi- 
timate place is, because I feel that he is still seeking it. 

Pollitz {gleefully) What a subject for a sermon! 
Why not for my first sermon at Louisville? And you'll 
be sitting thereto hear me preach it, Sidonie, girl! My! 
My! {Rocking his head from side to side) When I think 
how the women will stare to see you walking down the 
aisle after all the talk about your having been an in- 
valid ! My entrance into Louisville will be in a veritable 
blaze of interest! 

Sidonie {her voice sounding a little thin in the electric 
atmosphere) Billy, suppose we agree never to talk about 
my having been a feeble, useless girl. Please, please, 
Billy, take my health for granted! You know how you 
laugh at rich men who speak with pride about having 
once been poor. I am rich who was dreadfully poor, but 
I would rather not keep pointing to it. 

Pollitz. Where, then, is our gratitude? 

Sidonie. Your gratitude, mother's daddy's, mine — 
yes! But the rest of the world may be too full of false 
notions, may be too excited. Not you, of course, Mr. 
Charles! How dreadful it is to be discussed, or to have 
gatherings in celebration of one's getting about! That's 
why I let the girls go away a little while ago without see- 
ing them. 

Pollitz. You are right! By the Eternal, you are 
right! We will henceforth accept you are you are at 
this very hour. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 57 

Sidonie (sitting up eagerly) Will you do it? Will 
you try? If only you knew how I have suffered listening 
at summer resorts to poor-witted people discussing their 
ailments in order to make them real for other people. 
{With a laugh) At times I could have clawed them! But 
we're all healthy minded here, so it will be easy for us to 
keep off that subject. Oh, I'm so glad that I can tell 
you how I feel about it! 

Pollitz. Another sermon pat to hand, dealing with 
the foul fiends of the imaginary realm of maladies of idle 
men and women! You shall write most of it for me, 
Sidonie. 

Sidonie (sinking back with a sigh of contentment) 
If you'll let me. At least I would like you to fully 
understand what I mean, Billy. 

(Her father gets up and comes over to her. 

He is very pale, and the ordeal plays havoc with 

the manner in which he puts the question he 

wishes to ask) . 

Joseffy. Sidonie, will you — do you — mind telling 

us what it is you want us to understand? 

(She looks at him inquiringly, then lifts her 
eyes over his head in silent debate. 

(Suddenly she gets up from the settle without 

any sign of wavering, and stands in front of her 

father, with her hands folded over each other, a 

simple picture in a complex situation). 

Sidonie. Dad, perhaps you think that I haven't been 

honest with you. 

Joseffy. You have lived too long in this house to 
be anything but honest. 



58 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Pollitz {whose hand is unsteady as he lights a fresh 
cigar) It's all right, you know, Sid. You're talking 
to intelligent people of your own circle. 

Sidonie {who has net taken her eyes from her father) 
I think I have been putting it off because I wasn't quite 
clear what, exactly, I could tell you. If I had spoken un- 
prepared, it wouldn't have explained anything. {To 
Pollitz) Of course you're intelligent. But how could 
any of you have understood without a long explanation 
just what I had gone through for many months? 

Mrs. Joseffy [standing up and taking a step as if to 
get between Sidonie and her father) You are not going 
to become worked up! 

Joseffy. Your mother is right, Sidonie. Unless we 
are sure that we can approach this dispassionately, it 
were better to stop at once. 

{Sidonie is about to turn away, as if this were 
a welcome respite. This is succeeded by a mo- 
ment of uncertainty. Then she finds strength 
enough to carry through her original intention). 

Sidonie. You mustn't take away my chance to say 
that I am grateful for getting better. I really came down 
stairs to find some way to tell you. It only needed your 
asking. 

Joseffy {trying to lighten his tone) Of course. To 
us who have shared our lives so long with you, it will be 
as if we were really listening to our own thoughts. It is 
very easy, very natural. {He pulls an armchair for- 
ward for her). 

Sidonie. Let me stand a little while longer, just for 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 59 

the wonder of it! Think of the time when I would have 
preferred to lie down rather than to stand or even sit. 

Joseffy {moved) You have been a constant lesson 
in patience to us. 

Sidonie {her recital simplicity itself) I wasn't patient, 
daddy. It was all put on. I was resorting to will power. 
You always talked about the importance of having a 
methodical plan of life, so I tried to forget my weakness 
by working out some plan that would do, and I believed 
in none of them, Those outlines for sermons I wrote for 
you, the Hebrew I studied, the children's stories I scrib- 
bled for the Jewish magazines, the reports of your work 
that I used to prepare — they were rather helpless ways of 
keeping from being swamped by misery. {She sits down 
now as if weighed by the memory of this misery. Her 
mother stands back of her chair). 

Pollitz. That make-believe resulted in seme excel- 
lent work, Sid. You gave a few healthy people cause for 
envy. 

Sidonie. Why deceive ourselves, Billy? It was dark- 
ness for me, and I was stumbling all the time. At the 
beginning of this summer it seemed worse. As I looked 
out on the lake day after day, I would say to myself 
that the distant horizon represented the line where my 
ill-health stopped. If only I could get beyond it! But 
I knew that no matter how far I went, the line would 
keep retreating, health would be always out of reach. 
That was the sort of mind I was living with. How could 
I go on like that? 

{Joseffy is hard hit. He puts out his hand 
swiftly in a gesture of protest, but Pollitz speaks 
ahead of him) . 



60 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Pollitz. We were trying to feel our way, too, you 
know, Sid. We had to believe in the future, so that's 
perhaps why we never gave way to morbidity. As Jews 
we have our everlasting faith in God. 

Joseffy (to Pollitz with a touch of sternness) God 
was present even during what you call her morbidity — 
visibly present! 

Sidonie. Oh, daddy, Billy didn't mean to take me to 
task. He must have put himself very much in my place, 
and he naturally was driven to the other extreme. 

Joseffy (apologetically) I know. The only ques- 
tion that William's remark brings forward is just what 
we were doing about your future. Certainly we had 
not exhausted medical aid. I hope we never have con- 
veyed the idea that we were helpless in that respect. 

Sidonie. Of course, we could have kept on trying. 
But it did seem helpless. Surely, dad, you must have 
begun to feel doubts about that! 

Joseffy. Then we did make you feel that we had 
given up hope! 

Sidonie. How could you have pretended otherwise 
in the face of repeated failure? What purpose would it 
have served? 

Joseffy. Because I came closer to God through it. 

Sidonie (with a sigh) I suppose you expected me to 
do it, too. There was only one book in the Bible that 
I could go to in my bitterness, and that was Job. Job's 
suffering I understood. 

Laempfert (barely avoiding a scowl) Come, don't 
make it too hard, Sidonie. 

Sidonie (at a loss) Why, I am trying to make it 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 61 

easier, Mr. Charles! I want dad to see that we aren't 
getting anywhere by talking about physicians. Despite 
them it was plain that I was daily getting worse. I was 
living in the very depths of despair. So much so that 
one morning this summer I felt how necessary it was that 
I should no longer be alive, for everybody's sake, for 
my sake most of all. 

{There is a general stir of horror, pity, and, in 
Laempfert's case, indignation. Mrs. Joseffy, with 
a smothered cry, turns away that the others may 
not see her weep. Laempfert is in revolt because 
he is deeply moved and does not want to surrender 
to that feeling. Pollitz while stirred is also fascin- 
ated, as if a new Sidonie had been revealed to him. 
Joseffy is so shocked that the man-in-the- pulpit 
in him comes uppermost) . 
Joseffy. You could not have read your Job aright, 
dear! To him God was an ever-participating entity, and 
I cannot help but feel that God was beginning to be lost 
in your reckoning. 

Sidonie. Yes, daddy, I did feel that God had for- 
gotten me. Don't have contempt for me. As I looked 
at things then, if God had indeed forgotten, it wouldn't 
make much difference whether I lived or not. If I could 
stop everything in me that was suffering, even if that 
meant stopping myself, it would be a reminder to Him 
that I had been passed by. 

Pollitz (explosively) Lord, how blind the rest of us 
were ! And not a word to me, Sid ! Think of brewing 
that sort of hell's compound for solitary absorption! 

Sidonie (with a slow shake of the head) Yes, it was 



62 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

indescribably dreadful! But the light eventually had 
to break through. I was bound to see that I had never 
understood God, that all along I had been worshipping 
mechanically. 

Joseffy {looking towards Laempfert) That is not 
far removed from questions I put to myself during her 
many days of illness. How can I blame her? 

Pollitz. It makes me think of student days when we 
used to wrestle with metaphysical problems. Fortunate- 
ly, we didn't all of us wind up as sceptics. 

Laempfert (his tone very deep) A little more ques- 
tioning like that, and you have the revolutionist with the 
torch, ready to burn down everything that is dear to us. 

Joseffy. But, Charles, the world will always ask 
fundamental questions. It is our business to under- 
stand what prompts the asking, and to meet the issue 
judiciously. (To Sidonie — lovingly) Dear, why didn't 
you come to us? — to me, anyway? 

Sidonie. I'm sorry if I've hurt you. But, dad, if 
you will look back, in all our worry, in all our talk about 
my illness, our mention of God's name was rather casual. 
It may have been that you did not want me to feel that 
perhaps I was being punished for something. We did 
pray to Him once in a while that He should withdraw 
what we called His "afflicting hand," but we never were 
positive that He would really help. 

Joseffy (chilled by the challenge which this carries) 
I am not so sure, Sidonie, that you haven't been misread- 
ing your Judaism. I have never had the effrontery to 
insist on Divine help. (More quietly) But we needn't 
discuss that, since the question of the efficacy of prayer 
is a much mooted point in Judaism. I am going to ask 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 63 

you something else, Sidonie, something to which we were 
bound to come sooner or later. You need not answer it 
if you do not wish to. {He launches the question with 
a visible effort) Would your doubts have gone so deep 
if you had not been swayed by the thought that your 
uncle had also asked such questions and had answered 
them in a certain way? 

Mrs. Joseffy {choking down her tears — pleadingly) 
Ephraim! 

Sidonie It's all right, mommy. You mustn't be 
anxious about me. I am feeling very well. I am not 
tired at all. It's been a help to me. I feel so much 
freer. 

Mrs. Joseffy {grateful that they have not seen her 
tears, and speaking at a gallop so as not to lose courage) 
I am not the one who is afraid! 

Sidonie. Good, mommy! Everyone has been won- 
derful. I never expected that they would talk so forbear- 
ingly. 

Joseffy {looking from Laempfert to Pollitz) I think 
we have made a start, and can stop for the time being. 

Sidonie {in surprise) But what about me? {Her 
tone is almost child-like; but as she grips the arms of her 
chair and talks, she appears to dominate the scene) . You 
asked me a very natural question, dad. It happens that 
what we are talking about does lead to Uncle Sydney. 
When I first thought of him in connection with learning 
something about Christian Science, it wasn't in the be- 
lief that I would get much help in my illness. I had 
always been puzzled about his going to Science. He had 
not suffered physically or mentally. I couldn't under- 
stand why he left the synagogue even though he did be- 



64 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

come a Scientist. Perhaps it was because of the feeling 
against him and the mean things that were said. 

Pollitz [without particular contrition, but rather with 
an object in view) I believe I was a great offender in 
that particular respect once in a while. I called him a 
"renegade Jew." 

Mrs. Joseffy (wincing) William — 

Sidonie (interposing) One of Billy's lapses into 
thoughtlessness, mother. I don't think Uncle Sydney 
minds that expression. I've heard him use it himself. 

Pollitz. You don't say so! In what connection? 

Sidonie. He learned that someone had called him 
that, and evidently was concerned because I might hear 
it too. So he said to me that there were two kinds of 
renegade Jews: the one kind loves the non-Jew as much 
as he does the Jew; the other hates the non-Jew as much 
as he does the Jew. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Your uncle's heart is big enough to 
contain the whole world! There isn't anyone in this 
room for whom he hasn't a kind thought. 

Pollitz (with an involuntary shrug of the shoulders) 
That sort of a philosophy keeps one from being lonely. 

Sidonie. What a pity that all of you have lost touch 
with him! 

Laempfert (coldly) Not altogether. His standing as 
a lawyer brings him a lot of clients, with some of whom 
I am bound to come in contact. As for his having kind 
thoughts for me, Rose, (turning to her) I am afraid that 
I am not worthy of them in view of what I think of him. 

Pollitz (with a hasty glance at Sidonie) We are 
counting on you, Mr. Laempfert, to keep us to the point. 

Laempfert (haughtily) If you will give me an op- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 65 

portunity. (To Sidonie) My attitude towards your 
uncle will be clear if you stop to think that when he re- 
jected the synagogue, and ceased to be its president, that 
it became my important duty to try to undo a great deal 
of harm he had done. Your father could not, because 
of the strange position in which he found himself. 

(Sidonie, in the face of his forcefulness, for 
the first time loses something of her air of con- 
fidence ) . 

Pollitz. It seems to me that we haven't as yet fully 
heard what Sidonie has to say, and we are in no position 
to get any clear viewpoint. Between the time this summer 
when she was ready to give up the fight, and this moment, 
a lot of things have happened. Sidonie, will you give 
us an idea of them? 

Sidonie (who appears not to have heard Pollitz) Don't 
think, Mr. Charles, that I didn't perceive at the time 
Uncle Sydney left us how important it was that we Jews 
stand together. I didn't quite understand what made him 
take such a step suddenly without consulting all of 
you. 

Laempfert. My dear child, that is nothing to the 
way he goes about smiling! It's as if the wrong had been 
on our side! 

Sidonie. It isn't easy for him. 

Pollitz [airily) Practice makes perfect. One begins 
by diluting one's hatred. 

Joseffy (with a glance of warning) We must be 
careful, William. We must not concede to the Christians 
the triumph of having discovered the need of loving one's 
neighbors. 



66 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie (surprised) It sounds so bitter, daddy! 

Joseffy. Sidonie, do I have to tell you, of all people, 
that bitterness is a cup I have drained many times in 
the fifteen months since your uncle left us? His going 
challenged the synagogue as having little to give, ex- 
cept certain racial meat and drink. So fearful were we 
of the effect his resignation might have on our people in 
other parts of the country, that I can now tell you we 
worked desperately to silence talk. The Jew is in too 
vulnerable a position. When he is hit that way, he can 
never ask for sympathy. 

Sidonie. Yes, dad. Yet in the times I have gone to 
see him since then, Uncle Sydney never said a word to me 
about his new faith. It couldn't have been easy for 
him, when he believed he could help me through it. 

Pollitz (with a wave of his cigar) I personally ad- 
mit the mystery of that. It is particularly startling with 
so clever a man. He may have been trying to help you, 
Sid, without your being aware of it. 

Sidonie. According to Science, he would have had to 
ask me to let him. 

Pollitz. Then there were other reasons. You know, 
you can't explain a man like your uncle from shallow 
premises. I certainly enjoyed going to court to see him 
at work, and watch him turn the unexpected trick. 
(Abruptly) At any rate, you did eventually go to him 
for your difficulty. 

Sidonie. When the misery became too great — 

Pollitz (hurriedly) My dear, perhaps I am jealous 
of the fact that on the day when you thought of sinister 
things — of death — we here seemed a negligible factor. 
Sidonie. What right, Billy, had I to be thinking of 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 67 

anyone to whom I had been such a burden? If it had 
been possible for you to help me, the miracle would have 
come long before. 

Joseffy (conscious of the challenge) Out of the 
mercy of the Most High was bound to come your release. 

Sidonie. Yes, dad. 

Joseffy {painstakingly, so that she may grasp his 
point) Perhaps, like the rest of us, you had been too 
impatient. Of course, when you rose up in resistance 
against the despair, when you began to take stock of 
yourself — 

Sidonie (with certainty) No, dad! It was not like 
that! 

Joseffy. At least you have gotten rid of the nervous- 
ness arising from fear. 

Sidonie. I have gotten rid of the idea of fear, I think. 
I wish we all could. 

Pollitz. I am not so sure that we ought, Sid. Fear 
is one point on the universal compass by which the human 
race is guided. 

Sidonie. Then we can't mean the same thing by it. 
For instance, you fear that my present strength may be 
temporary. I refuse to recognize the reality of fear at all. 

Pollitz (to Joseffy) It is possible to build a Jewish 
Science on some such idea as that. 

Sidonie (eagerly) Can we? Can we see through 
Judaism what Jesus saw that showed all things to be 
spiritual? Dad, that is what I have been trving to find 
for myself before I was ready to talk to you! 

Joseffy. Ah, but meanwhile you may be throwing 
away the substance for the shadow! 



68 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie {after a pause) Dad, believing certain things 
for many years did not seem to make much difference 
about the things that I wanted — like good health and 
peace of mind. Now I've got to see why they didn't. I've 
got to go to the very end of the road. 

Joseffy {trying, not to show his despair) But the 
risk, child ! 

Pollitz. Sid, my girl, your uncle never came back 
along that road, with all his astuteness. Don't let your- 
self be swept away by words. Take your time. 

Sidonie. You forget, Billy, how long I have been in 
the thick of the fight dad has put up for Israel. I even 
have had hopes that a woman would yet stand in the 
Jewish pulpit and preach. 

Pollitz {smiling at Joseffy) That isn't as remote as 
one might believe, eh? 

Sidonie. When I think of the marvellous grasp of 
the Bible which Mrs. Eddy had, and the use to which she 
put it, nothing seems impossible. 

Laempfert {abruptly) I think it would be of greater 
interest to us to know how you got hold of her book, 
Sidonie. 

Sidonie. Surely, if it will interest you. {She bends 
forward) . That day when it seemed so hard to go on, 
I suddenly decided to write Uncle Sydney, and to ask 
him what I should do. When I dropped the letter into 
the mail box, I was astonished to think that I hadn't asked 
him months before. 

Pollitz. I suppose he sent you "Science and Health." 

Sidonie. Yes. But there wasn't a single line accom- 
panying it. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 69 

Pollitz. Queer! 

Sidonie. What would you have done then, Billy, if 
you had been in my place? 

Pollitz. Had you never read the book before? 

Sidonie. A little of it once, with several girls, for 
amusement. Dad, when the book came, I wrote you 
a letter. 

Joseffy (surprised) I never got it! 

Sidonie. No, I never sent it. Instead, I sent Mrs. 
Eddy's book back to uncle. 

Pollitz. But you looked into it before you returned 
it, didn't you? 

Sidonie. Not with any hope of finding anything that 
would help me. I could make very little of the argu- 
ment. Here and there it was intelligible. I found con- 
clusions that were uplifting. But I got too bitter at 
last to be patient. When I sent back the book, I was re- 
lieved. I picked up my Bible afterwards to see if the 
idea of God as Love could be consistently applied. (To 
her father) Could there be any harm in that? 

Joseffy. No, not if you are unwilling to go to the 
very end with this search for a new explanation of your 
Bible. 

Sidonie. The end, dad? Why, we're only at the be- 
ginning! Think of the Bible healing! Shall I stop find- 
ing out why? 

Pollitz (throwing himself into the breach once more) 
What did your uncle write you when you sent back his 
book? 

Sidonie. Nothing at all. 

Pollitz (unable to repress a chuckle) The calcula- 



70 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

tions go wrong once more! A "take it or leave it" at- 
titude that put the next step up to you, Sid. 

Sidonie. Why should he have written me? I didn't 
write him when I returned the book. Afterwards I was 
sorry that I hadn't, because my silence might have hurt 
him. Yet I couldn't say anything at the time that would 
not hurt more. (As if they must know why) I know now 
that he couldn't have minded. 

Joseffy (with finality) I think that for the present 
we have gone far enough, Sidonie. This is a strain to us 
all. You have been down long enough, and unless you 
would like William to get you a car and drive out, you 
should return to your room. I will come up later. 

Sidonie (insistent) But I'm resting here! My very 
activity now gives me a feeling of comfort. It's the hope, 
the certainty! 

Pollitz. All right, Sid; then you may as well come 
back to your narrative about your uncle and the book. 

Sidonie. Yes, you ought to know everything! Just 
after I sent the book back, I was lying on the porch, look- 
ing out at the lake. I was fretful even at the motion 
of the motor boats, they seemed so alive. I was miles 
deep in numbness. Without any reason, I recalled a 
passage that is in the preface of Mrs. Eddy's book: 
"To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is 
big with blessings." I repeated the words several times. 
Then I tried to understand them as they might apply to 
my own needs. (Spreading out her arms) All my 
numbness and weakness left me! I sat up easily. I 
walked down from the porch without any trouble. And 
I walked out with sure steps to the beach. It was un- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 71 

believable! Dad, the water seemed like a glad, living 
thing running up to welcome me! 

(She laughs out, joyous with the remembrance. 
Then there is silence). 

Mrs. Joseffy (resenting the lack of response of the 
three men) It was so! 

Pollitz. You have read, Sidonie, about the miracles 
at Lourdes. 

Sidonie. If those who recover there feel as I did, 
then I am thankful for them, no matter who they are or 
where they are. I only hope that they don't afterwards 
have the fears that I had. I could not help asking my- 
self: Suppose my weakness came back if I doubted? 
You see, I wanted to hold on tight to the sudden strength, 
and doubt might be a thief that would take it away. 

(Laempfert shifts his gaze from Sidonie to her 
father, and sees a man who is in the grip of just 
that fear of an ebb in Sidonie's strength through 
doubt). 

Joseffy. You did not write me because of that? 

Sidonie (hesitating) I did sit down to write you. 
After the first few lines, the weakness came back. I was 
very ill after that. 

Mrs. Joseffy (determined to have their sympathy) 
Terribly ill! You remember, Ephraim? 

Joseffy. In the early part of August? (His wife 
nods). I was away at the Conference. 

Pollitz. Yes, I remember it, too. I was in the midst 
of some very hot days, and when you wrote, mutterchen, 
it didn't depress the temperature. I think I steadied my- 



72 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

self a bit by quoting the old refrain about "pushing them 
clouds away!" 

Sidonie (brightly) Good for you, Billy! The clouds 
were sure to go! After my taste of strength, the world 
could never be the same again. You know, at first I 
thought Divine anger had struck at me to punish me for 
demanding so much. You see, God as an Avenger was 
still a habit of thought. 

Pollitz. Such an interpretation, however, could 
hardly be satisfactory after even a cursory reading of 
"Science and Health." (As Sidonie looks puzzled, in her 
failure to understand whether he speaks from sympathy 
or in criticism) It's all right, girlie. So far, from what 
you say, there was no great divergence from your Juda- 
ism. In the world of spirit, the great stream washes us 
all. You should have written me frankly at the time, 
because, taking me less seriously than your father, it 
would have been easier for you. 

Sidonie (unexpectedly) I didn't want just a hand- 
shake. 

(Its bluntness makes Pollitz laugh), 

Mrs. Joseffy. She didn't mean to be unkind, Wil- 
liam. 

Pollitz. But we've strayed from the story again. 
When you had your relapse, Sid, you did finally put your 
troubles squarely up to your uncle, didn't you? 

Sidonie. No. I was too ashamed. There was a 
Christian Scientist in a cottage nearby. I had seen her 
reading "Science and Health" — and she loaned me her 
copy until she got one for me. 

Pollitz. This time Mrs. Eddy was clearer. Nicht 
wahr? 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 73 

Sidonie. Why, yes. Some of it that seemed mere 
words before was amazingly lucid. 

Pollitz (coming over to her, and putting an a)rm 
about her shoulders) And here you are, thank the Lord, 
growing stronger and getting weller every minute! 

Sidonie. The healing was not as quick as that, Billy. 
But I got rid of my depression. With that I also got rid 
of my feeling of intolerance towards Christian Science. 
I was ashamed to think that my Judaism could be so nar- 
row, when I could make it as broad as I wished. I saw 
that my attitude towards Uncle Sydney was just pride 
and stubbornness. As I grew ashamed of it, it was just 
as if I had been pulled out of some very deep, dark 
well. When I had strength enough to write, I asked 
uncle to have Christian Science treatment for me. Per- 
haps, dad, I should have written you before I did that, 
but I was afraid of the dreadful relapse. 

Pollitz [intervening to help her father) You've got 
us in a tangle there, for you ask us to ignore practical 
considerations. ( To Joseffy) We're practically knotted 
into her dilemma, you see. It's tremendously ironic! 

Laempfert. It sounds to me more like confusion 
than irony. ( To Sidonie) I suppose you were waiting 
for more strength to speak to your father. 

Sidonie. No, Mr. Charles. I wanted to be mentally 
sure of my ground in order not to ask questions that 
might clear themselves up of their own accord. 

Joseffy (unable to hide his commingling of despair 
and chagrin) Child! (He turns away to impose sil- 
ence on himself). 

Sidonie. Dad, what harm could there be in waiting 
to find out where I stood? During all the years that I sat 



74 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

below your pulpit, and heard you expound the Bible and 
Judaism, I was being prepared for any question that 
might arise. You don't really think that I am a child, 
daddy? Or is there anything you have kept from me? 
— doubts that you have never been able to clear up in 
your own mind? — 

Joseffy. I don't know what you mean. (After a 
pause) Since you shared my thoughts and my work, you 
should know that I have concealed nothing from you. 
For the same reason, you should be able to confront any 
phase of Christianity properly. 

Pollitz. Sid, you certainly know how Christological 
tendencies have been worked into the King James version 
of the Bible. 

Sidonie. The King James translators did not under- 
stand the spirit of the New Testament, wonderful men 
though they were. 

Pollitz. Then we shall go back over our own litera- 
ture and show you that Mrs. Eddy has been antedated. 
She hasn't stumbled on anything new. 

Sidonie. You mean there were Jews who saw what 
she did? That's what I want to know! If so, there are 
grounds for reconciliation! 

Joseffy (positively) With Christianity? Not one! 

Sidonie. But this is a different conception of Chris- 
tianity, dad. It is something new in our experience. 

Joseffy. Sidonie, you must always be on the lookout 
for superstition no matter in what guise it presents itself. 
Otherwise truth becomes guesswork. 

Sidonie. But, daddy, if I feel that my feet are more 
firmly planted, my outlook more purposeful — ? 

Pollitz. Dear child, you have been told by Mrs. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 75 

Eddy that Christ represents divinity. You are not in the 
same category. He is the intermediary, to be finally iden- 
tified with God in one's thinking. That is Christianity. 

Sidonie. No! No! That is the current Christian's 
conception of Jesus! 

Laempfert {coldly) You have simply been told by 
one sect of Christians that another is wrong; which 
doesn't mean that either of them is right. 

Sidonie. I have been told that Jesus denied the reality 
of the material world. To him all that is, is but Divine 
Mind, which is not material ; while all churches which do 
not believe that, give themselves to materialism. 

Pollitz. Well, there's mighty little consolation in 
that for us ! We come in for the back hand slap of being 
material, too. 

Sidonie {once more urgent) Then don't you see that 
we must begin to purify Judaism, as a worker in gold 
refines the metal by getting rid of impurities. 

Pollitz. Sidonie, Sidonie, girl, is that refining in- 
fluence to fall to the Christian Scientist? Remember! — 
the net that plays and has played in the waters of Israel 
for two thousand years may vary in form and designa- 
tion, but it has only one object! 

Laempfert (stridently) Judaism has stood all the 
tests for those two thousand years! It will last yet 
awhile, thank God! 

Sidonie {trying not to be afraid) Dad, you mustn't 
get far away from me in my search for the truth! 

Joseffy (his eyes filling with tears) Sidonie, perhaps 
my great concern for you has brought this about. I may 
have sinned by questioning too contentiously why God 
should have so afflicted you. I did not question with 



76 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Job; I had no bitterness. I did not doubt — that period 
is long past. Nevertheless I examined the facts as if I 
dared to be the equal of the Most High. (He is silent 
for a moment. Sidonie is about to speak, but refrains). 
In the end I had to concede God's purpose to be in- 
scrutable, He Whose intelligence wills life into countless 
universes, and to Whom the infinite is but a gesture! 

Sidonie (with tenderness) If your great concern 
meant punishment, what is my getting well? 

Joseffy (patiently) Let me restate my position, 
Sidonie, for you must see it outlined sharply, no matter 
what else you see now. I am a Jew with a definite Jew- 
ish mission in life. Before God is the God of all peoples, 
He is in a special sense the God of Israel. His com- 
mandments have sanctified us. We are literally a wit- 
ness to God. Alongside of that fact neither Christian 
claim nor practice has availed. Christianity itself is 
now under examination by countless thousands of hither- 
to unquestioning followers. Christian Science is the last 
effort to save it from extinction under the stress of 
modern life. 

Sidonie. You will not let yourself see any distinc- 
tion! 

Pollitz (impetuously) Nor must anyone else who 
follows our guidance be allowed to see it in the sense 
in which you mean, Sidonie. 

Sidonie (with a flash of the eye ) You won't have to 
guard our people against me, Billy! 

Pollitz (discomfited) For heaven's sake, Sid! 
(Mrs. Joseffy comes to Sidonie's side). 

Laempfert. Just a moment, Rose. Sidonie, I am a 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 77 

practical man, and I speak as one when I tell you that 
Christianity cannot be put into practice. It is an utter 
failure in everyday life. I know it because I have deal- 
ings with many non-Jews. As for Christian Science, it 
is merely a clever concealment of the failure. 

SlDONlE. Mr. Charles, if there is a grain of truth in 
it, and that grain can relieve misery, are we to run away 
in fear because it is called Christian? 

Laempfert. Are you sure that you have exhausted 
all the explanations that Judaism can offer you? Be- 
cause it must have the explanation for your getting 
well. 

(Joseffy, who has been pacing the room, stops 
in front of Pollitz, and addresses him) . 

Joseffy. Shall we say that there is something funda- 
mentally wrong with the way we expound Judaism if a 
Jewess like Sidonie is not utterly revolted by Christianity, 
no matter in what form it is presented? To borrow a 
Christian expression, there should be a very Gethsemane 
for the Jew who takes this step, an agony beyond all 
agonies! 

Sidonie {before Pollitz can answer) I had my Gethse- 
mane, for nearly eight years. (With impressive dignity) 
Dad, I am not here to confess a sin. Nor do I feel that 
as a Jewecs I am in spiritual danger. {Standing up) 
How can you all look at me, and see me here, almost 
healed and uplifted, and feel that I am facing any moral 
risk? 

Joseffy {hastily) My child, you must not doubt 
our gratitude! 

(Laempfert abruptly gets to his feet, and 



78 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie, cowed by his formidable solemnity, sinks 
back into her seat). 

Laempfert. Ephraim, I have a number of important 
things to attend to. So if you will excuse me — {He 
buttons ug his coat). 

Joseffy {uneasily) I suppose you have to. I was 
glad you were here. I want to see you again today, if 
possible. 

Laempfert. Come down to the bank this afternoon. 

Sidonie {courageously) Mr. Charles, perhaps you 
may not altogether have felt so, but it has been a won- 
derful occasion. 

Laempfert {composing himself with a heroic effort 
— the word he manages to get out almost sticking in his 
throat ) Wonderful ? 

Sidonie. Of course, there was the unexpectedness of 
everything. I had to go through that, too. It was so the 
Pharisee felt before Jesus' preaching. 

Laempfert {thrusting out his chin and chest) Sidonie, 
I have a daughter nearly of your age, and I am as con- 
cerned with your future as if you were my own daughter. 
When your father came to tell me that you had recovered 
sufficiently to get about with ease, it was a noteworthy day 
for me. {Severely) I can only say to you: Shut your 
door against Christianity in any form, shut it with all 
your strength, and keep it shut! If you make the least 
concession to it — {He finishes that thought with an 
abrupt gesture). There are hard and fast rules of life 
which cannot be disregarded, and one of them is to re- 
spect the counsels of those who have spent their lives 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 79 

with you. Let your father be your guide, as he has 
guided others in his wonderful way! 

(As he starts to leave, greatly agitated, Mrs. 
Josejfy intercepts him). 

Mrs. Joseffy. I do want you to stay for lunch, 
Charles. This is no way to hurry off. 

Laempfert (swallowing hard) I had better go. There 
were too many of us here, anyway. 

Pollitz. It was just the family circle — practically 
that. 

Laempfert. Yes! Yes! Good bye. 

(He goes out, with Mrs. Joseffy in his wake). 

Sidonie (her voice uncertain) He tried so hard to be 

kind and not to hurt me. His intolerance will pass away. 

Pollitz (ruffled by her dispassionate way of putting 

this) I would call it loyalty to an idea rather than 

intolerance. 

(He sees that Sidonie is gazing at her father, 
who sits silent and abstracted, his manner spirit- 
less. Pollitz motions to Sidonie to leave the 
room with him) . 
Sidonie (trying not to sound apologetic) Dad, you 
must not get wrong impressions. There should be no 
antagonisms. 

Joseffy. I was not prepared. (Summoning his af- 
fection) But for the time being, you ought to think of 
nothing except rest and recreation. (Smiling wanly) 
There can be no antagonism in that. 
Pollitz (briskly) So far, so good! 

(He goes to Sidonie, and leaning over, whispers 
to her. She closes her eyes for a moment, then 



80 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

gets to her feet. He helps her to the door, and 
she makes no effort to speak to her father as she 
goes out. 

(Joseffy remains motionless in his seat, and 
there Pollitz finds him when he shortly returns). 

Pollitz. Her mother is with her. Remarkable how 
well she stood the ordeal! By George, it is! I think 
w T e took big chances. No harm done! Now we can talk 
without having to count the syllables of our words. 

Joseffy (gloomily) For the time being we are help- 
less. Charles Laempfert realized it, the one man I 
thought could solidly influence her. 

Pollitz. The one-man idea never works out. I think 
Laempfert was more upset by Sidonie's aggressiveness 
than by any fear of her health. It seemed to me he 
chilled the atmosphere a bit. It arises from the way he 
regards young people. 

Joseffy [continuing aloud his silent train of thought) 
Yet we dare not lend ourselves to any equivocal posi- 
tion. To think that Sidonie should be wandering around 
in the temple like a mad woman with a torch, careless 
of where the sparks fall! 

Pollitz. Then we must not try the stunt of putting 
out the torch by fanning the flame. 

Joseffy. We certainly cannot sit down and try to 
match our wits against hers in this situation. She comes 
of people who died for their religious convictions. You 
heard her: she believes she has found something with 
which Judaism can compromise. This is calamitous! 

Pollitz. I would suggest that she and her mother 
go to California this winter. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 81 

JoSEFFY {shortly) To transfer the scene of her self- 
questioning? 

Pollitz. She is too close to all of us. Opposition 
only humors her obstinacy. 

Joseffy (reluctant to quarrel) We would be taking 
big chances by letting her go. Once she is away from us 
and our influence, we may lose her altogether. You spoke 
of the effect of a new religious experience on an emotional 
person. That is why we must keep her near us. In the 
end we will win. It only requires concerted effort and 
hard thinking. 

Pollitz. No; we're too high-strung. Better that she 
went away. It's simpler, if you stop to think of it. 

Joseffy. That's the counsel of despair. 

Pollitz (forbearingly) I wouldn't call it that. Just 
plain prudence, that's all. I was watching and listen- 
ing, even though I did most of the talking. If Sidonie 
stays here, we will end up by damning her logic out 
aloud. It will be next to impossible to let her continue 
saying what she thinks. We will lose our tempers. There 
isn't a lot of time in which to act, you know. 

Joseffy. And when she is away from us, and is out 
of reach of our counsel, do you think she will resign 
herself to indifference? She will guess why we sent her 
away, and her intuitions will damn us! I must show her 
that I am honest enough to meet the issue in person. 

Pollitz. Please do not fail to give me, also, credit 
for honesty in the matter! 

Joseffy (surprised at his warmth) I was speaking 
for the both of us. It never entered my head to detach 
you in our common predicament. 



82 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Pollitz {seizing on this) Don't you see how it is 
bound to affect me? Here is the Louisville call, and the 
responsibilities it implies. My work necessitates that I 
consider other things than the encroachment of Christian 
Science on loose Jewish thinking. That's a muddy stream 
into which one can't wade too deep. 

Joseffy {without hesitation) Undoubtedly! Judaism 
itself comes first — ahead of me, of you, of Sidonie! 

Pollitz {after a pause) Suppose, then, we discard 
my proposal about her going away. She stays. 

Joseffy. I am very glad to hear you say so. I was 
afraid you would insist on it. I simply can't let her 
go, William! You have insight, but it will be a long 
time before you quite understand that. 

Pollitz. Then I can count on your affection giving 
particular point to what I am going to propose instead. 
There is a way out of this, the only working possibility 
left us, except that I am afraid you won't entertain the 
suggestion I want to make. (As Joseffy waits to be en- 
lightened) It concerns the most important personage in 
the whole entanglement. 

Joseffy {immediately up in arms) My answer to that 
is the fact that I haven't even remotely thought of him 
in considering Sidonie's future! 

Pollitz. I don't see how you can avoid it. I am no 
prophet; but whether we like it or not, we will certainly 
have to go to Sydney Rosenthal. 

Joseffy. I certainly do not intend to go! 

Pollitz. So you think at this particular moment. 
But the going is inevitable; and we can do it in one of two 
ways: either in a spirit of hostility and denunciation; or 
we carry the olive branch. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 83 

Joseffy (angrily) You take our dignity and tear it 
to shreds, as if it were a wornout garment! You forget 
everything that preceded this! 

Pollitz. Everything since Rosenthal left us was 
merely a prelude to the events of today. Maybe you 
think I am ready to shout with joy at the prospect of ap- 
proaching him! Whenever I see the placid face of that 
renegade Jew in the streets of Pittsburgh, I feel like 
punching it! (As Joseffy turns away, shocked by the 
violence of this) Oh, I'll admit it isn't the most delicate 
thing in the world to say; but I'm merely giving voice to 
what the rest of you are thinking and feeling. 

Joseffy. If we don't inhibit our hates, then the sword 
must continue to be the measure of man's stature. 

Pollitz. Exactly! Amen! By all means let's cir- 
cumvent hate with a little intelligence. If we had done 
it in the first place, we would have gotten a start on 
Rosenthal by discussing his Christian Science with Sido- 
nie. As it is, we are left grotesquely suspended in mid- 
air. And Rosenthal, watching us, pretends not to enjoy 
the scene. 

Joseffy (bitterly) So you suggest that we descend 
to his level ! 

Pollitz. Not to his level, thank God! Not to the 
level of the will-less seeker after heavenly bliss, who 
would see us stripped of Sidonie's affection, and find 
a metaphysical excuse for it! 

Joseffy. You are filled with needless apprehension. 

Pollitz. Look back on our interview with Sidonie. 
Imagine her someone else's daughter, not your own, and 
you a listener. There's no use riding the horns of our 



84 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

dilemma with a sanguine air! We've got to take the in- 
itiative. 

Joseffy. And all the while I thought you the most 
optimistic of men! 

Pollitz. Another instance of how little we under- 
stand each other's motives! I was keeping in mind the 
community, and the necessity of hiding Sidonie's views 
away from it, if possible. They will become known un- 
less we get to Rosenthal and maneuvre him out of his 
control of matters. 

Joseffy. You would be going as a supplicant, never 
on equal terms. It would be equivalent to an errand of 
surrender. 

Pollitz. We are commonsense people in a common- 
sense world, and Rosenthal lives in that world, no matter 
how he may conceive of it metaphysically. I have an 
idea that he has not stopped to consider the complica- 
tions that were bound to arise from Sidonie's sudden in- 
terest in Christian Science. He can't be deliberately 
seeking trouble. In other words, we have got to go and 
explain matters to him, for even your* wise man has his 
blind spot of stupidity. 

Joseffy {with a violent shake of the head) I can't 
do it! It revolts every atom of decency in me! How child- 
ish to try it! We've just heard of Sidonie's disloyalty to 
Judaism, and we literally run to him for help! And what 
is it that we ask of him? What can we ask of him except 
that he withdraw all Christian Science influence from 
about her? What else is there to say, unless we denounce 
him for having permitted Sidonie to bring her spiritual 
difficulties to him. No! Our case rests with her. not 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 85 

with him. Let us not carry our problem out of this 
house! {He falls to pacing the room). 

Pollitz. When Sidonie's father and the man she is 
to marry walk into Rosenthal's office, everything alters at 
once! We can ask for a respite for Sidonie, and do it 
without being weak-kneed. We will tell him that since 
she cannot stand up under the strain of carrying this at 
once to some final decision, we want her left alone. I am 
positive that he hasn't weighed the consequences. Like 
any religious fanatic, he has built a wall about himself, 
and we've got to climb the wall, and bring a little reality 
into his world. We have everything to gain. We don't 
have to do it with lightning and thunder, nor are we 
going to put our tongues in our cheeks. I wouldn't wait. 
There are certain plagues that don't burn themselves out 
easily. 

Joseffy (with an involuntary shiver of disgust, drop- 
ping into a seat) I have never lived to so little purpose 
as during these last days! They have been an insult and 
a mockery. 

Pollitz. They will continue to mock us as long as 
we let the reins lie flabbily in our hands. 

Joseffy. How can you expect any sort of satisfactory 
hearing from Rosenthal? His disinterestedness will be 
equivalent to a rebuff. You will finish by getting very 
angry, or I will. 

Pollitz. We may be letting our dislike of him color 
our belief as to how he is going to act. He may be sen- 
timental enough to prove magnanimous. In fact, he 
may not be sufficiently advanced as a Christian Scientist 
to be a "bitter-ender." If he does show a tendency to 
smooth things over, his word may go a long way with 



86 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie. All we want at this particular time is a breath- 
ing spell. 

Joseffy. Have you considered the effect on Sidonie 
of such a visit on our part? 

Pollitz. Our Sidonie, excellent mind though she has, 
is a child! She will look upon it as a lofty action on 
our part. It will heighten her confidence in us; whereas, 
if we stay and shuffle around, she will get further away 
from us. Don't you see that under no circumstances must 
the suggestion come from her that we go and talk it over 
w T ith her uncle? 

Joseffy. You may have overlooked one thing: she 
may expect us to go. 

Pollitz {taken aback) Eh? (Quickly) No! She 
hasn't reasoned that far! 

Joseffy (miserably) What may she not be reasoning 
about? You have heard her speak of a woman preaching 
in the synagogue. Latent dreams and wishes are coming 
to the surface. There is so much that we can do for her, 
and she won't give us the chance! 

Pollitz. She won't, because she is beginning to con- 
sider us too material, unless we are resourceful enough 
to disprove it. She hasn't asked us to go to her uncle — 
very well! — we will steal a march on her! Don't forget 
that Bismarck, anti-Catholic though he was, and with all 
his talk about not compromising with Catholic Rome, and 
about not going to Canossa — went all the same! 

Joseffy (exasperated beyond endurance) Words! 
Words! Can't you see how my love for her and my 
hate for this agency which has beclouded her mind are 
tearing me to pieces? 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 87 

Pollitz. Shall we therefore let Sydney Rosenthal go 
marching on? 

Joseffy. We have only had our first talk with Sido- 
nie. 

Pollitz. Another such, a few more Fabian retreats 
on her part — (He shrugs his shoulders. Then careful- 
ly extinguishing his cigar in an ash tray on the table, he 
uses his opportunity to look closely at Joseffy). If you 
want, we can see Rosenthal today. 

Joseffy (curtly) Please don't talk to Sidonie until 
I can talk to her myself. 

Pollitz. We may come to an impasse where I will 
have to go to Rosenthal alone. 

Joseffy. William, I am too old a man to be bullied 
into hasty action! 

Pollitz (now at the door) There are two communi- 
ties concerned in the ebb and flow of our fortunes. We 
are stewards, and a belated accounting of our conduct 
in this matter may raise a storm. 

Joseffy. I can only do the honorable thing as I 
see it. 

Pollitz. We can't replace Sidonie with a text on 
"Honor." (He goes out) . 

(Joseffy, suddenly finding himself alone, shakes 
off his stupor, and gets to his feet. He wanders 
about the room in anger). 

Joseffy. That this should come to me! 

(As he paces the room, the hall door opens and 
Mrs. Joseffy enters). 

Mrs. Joseffy. I'm so happy! — you were splendid 
with Sidonie, Ephraim! Even Charles was tactful. Now 



88 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

you must keep William confident that everything will 
turn out all right. 

Joseffy (gathering his wide- flung thoughts) If there 
had been more honesty, I would not have come into this 
so late and with so great a handicap. I'm not going to 
lend myself to anything that will make me a party to 
still greater dishonesty. 

(The falling curtain shows Joseffy taking his 
cap ahd gown from the settle, while his wife, 
aghast at the hardness of his tone and manner, is 
at a loss for a reply, and can only look at him 
in dismay) . 

(Curtain) 
(A Week Intervenes Between Acts I and II) 



ACT II 

Sydney Rosenthal's private office in his business suite 
of rooms. Colorless lawbooks run in parallel on open 
shelves against all walls from floor to ceiling. To the 
right is a desk loaded with papers, and holding a tele- 
phone. It is flanked by straight-backed leather-uphols- 
tered chairs that show much wear. A revolving book- 
case is within reach of the desk. A costumer stands 
nearby. Back of these are two windows that look out on 
the business section of Pittsburgh. 

In the rear wall, the bookshelves gape in the middle 
to allow space for a bronze bust of Lincoln whose curl- 
ing hair, peaked beard, quizzical look and bare shoulders 
give him the appearance of a satyr. Above it hangs an 
etching of the head of Mary Baker Eddy. 

Sufficiently removed from the wall on the left to allow 
access to the books is a leather-covered couch. On that 
side, in the upper corner, is a door. In coming through 
it, one confronts a large globe of the world, a brightly 
colored patch against the expanse of expressionless 
books. 

A dusty-grey chenille carpet completes the picture of 
severe simplicity which Tules throughout the office. 
Decorative accessories are lacking that would indicate 
an aesthetic side to Rosenthal. 

89 



90 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

The time is morning, and the sun streams into the un- 
occupied room. A tall boy in short trousers comes roll- 
ing in with the clumsy gait of overgrown adolescence. 
He whistles as he moves, throws some letters into a tray 
on the desk, sends the revolving bookcase whirling as 
he turns away from the desk, and on the way out rotates 
the globe. Each time that he opens the door, the beat of 
typewriters can be heard. 

The next visitors are a young man attached to the 
office, and a pretty, young woman with impressive car- 
riage, and in faultless street attire. She is ill at ease, 
and is divided between a desire to snub the young man 
and to keep on friendly terms with him. 

Frederick Speiser, who is a senior law clerk, has a 
very starched and prim look, and shows a mask-like face 
behind his tortoise-shelled glasses. His talk is de- 
clamatory, and when he wishes to emphasize a point, he 
rises on his toes. If he is not using his hands at such a 
time, they are firmly clasped behind him. 

The voung woman's name is Mrs. W. Remington Bar- 
dell. 

Mrs. Bardell (seating herself rather stiffly in a chair 
beside the desk) I cannot understand why you should 
doubt that I have an appointment with Mr. Rosenthal. 

Speiser (evidently outraged by a misstatement of fact 
— frigidly polite) I did not doubt it. I was merely sur- 
prised. I am sorry if I showed it. 

Mrs. Bardell (looking over his head) I cannot see 
the difference. 

Speiser (desperately) As a matter of fact, since I 
can surmise the reason for your wishing to see him, I was 
at a loss to understand the reason for his appointment. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 91 

Mrs. Bardell. That sounds very presumptuous. My 
case may be the talk of all Pittsburgh, but I expected 
the full protection of this office. If Mr. Rosenthal spoke 
to you — (She waits). 

Speiser (hastily) Not at all! Or I would have ex- 
pected you. I supposed there was some misunderstanding, 
since he will have nothing more to do with divorce cases. 
I am sorry. 

Mrs. Bardell (as he is about to go) I have merely 
come to Mr. Rosenthal for advice. My lawyers are Hen- 
derson and Wallach, but they are perfectly willing that 
I should also consult Mr. Rosenthal. 

Speiser (with a little more courage) It was different 
when this firm was "Loeb, Rosenthal and Goldfarb." 

Mrs. Bardell (less haughtily) So Mr. Henderson tells 
me. It seems to me Mr. Rosenthal's objections to divorce 
cases should depend on how important they are. 

Speiser. It's all been different of late. (Rounding 
his phrases) Even though I am a beginner, as a member 
of the bar I regret seeing so great a specialist relinquish 
part of his practice. 

Mrs. Bardell. I can understand his giving up his 
court work. It must be very disagreeable. 

Speiser (pleased to be imparting information to the 
charming visitor) He will simply have nothing to do 
with divorce cases at all. It is astonishing! I believe 
that a lawyer should be like a physician, always ready 
to respond to every appeal. Mr. Rosenthal has turned 
his back on work that is his natural bent. 

Mrs. Bardell. Surely circumstances make a differ- 
ence! 



92 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Speiser. None at all. That is what has upset me. 
Work is part of my religion. (Risking a rebuff) I wish 
I could be of help to you, for I don't think Henderson and 
Wallach are going to be that. You haven't enough of 
a case, from what I gathered from the newspapers. 

Mrs. Bardell [throwing herself on his mercy) Is 
there anyone in Pittsburgh I could see who has influence 
with Mr. Rosenthal? 

Speiser (sorrowfully) The sort of people who have 
any influence with him are not at all keen on divorce. 
They are — if I may characterize it — like cattle: they don't 
seem to have marital difficulties. That is always the case 
with people who go to extremes in religion. (Then he 
is alarmed at having said too much in criticism of his 
superior) . 

Mrs. Bardell (shortly) I have been told about his 
interest in Christian Science. If I can't use his Christian 
Science friends to influence him, he surely still has Jewish 
friends. Not that I know these people! (Hastily) You 
are not a Hebrew? 

Speiser. Oh, no! Not at all! Clever people, you 
know, and all that! But — (He makes a deprecatory 
gesture). His one-time influential Jewish friends have 
very little to do with him, except when they get in a 
hole. 

Mrs. Bardell (quickly) But if he advises them, why 
should he object to going over my case with me? 

Speiser. Well, you see, they don't come to him for 
divorce. It isn't their strong point. Either they're able 
to cover up a great deal or must be able to stand a great 
deal. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 93 

Mrs. Bardell. When he hears all the facts — 
Speiser. There's nothing new under the sun in 
divorce. A lot of unhappy people have passed through 
this room! 

Mrs. Bardell {stubbornly) I shall be listened to! 
What sort of a Christian is he if he is going to send me 
away? You think those people who came here over- 
stated their troubles when they wanted a divorce? (Flar- 
ing up) You're very young, and can't understand! (It 
leaves Speiser very abject, and he makes an ado about 
wiping his glasses), How much one overlooks things! 
(She turns and stares out of the window, and seems to 
be speaking to herself) . One tries to be patient, and 
it is so hateful! Nothing but miserable discord! The 
whole world seems full of it! I wonder people don't 
go insane! 

(Sydney Rosenthal has entered in time to hear 
the closing phrases of her passionate outbreak. 
He is short, inclined to corpulency, has a large 
round head whose curly hair is beginning to thin 
out, is heavily miistached, has a Roman nose and 
brown eyes which look out shrewdly from under 
shaggy eyebrows) . 

Rosenthal (after a quick scrutiny of his visitor whose 
face is in profile, and who has not heard him come in) 
No, Mrs. Bardell! (Both she and Speiser start and turn 
around) . Not discord! Why do you slip handcuffs over 
your good nature like that? (He goes to the costumer 
and hangs up his overcoat and hat). I hope you have 
not been listening to Mr. Speiser here. He glories in our 
reputation for waxing fat on difficulties. 



94 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Speiser {with a desperate effort to retrieve his dignity) 
I would be sorry if Mrs. Bardell carried away any wrong 
impression. 

Rosenthal. I know exactly what's on your mind, my 
young friend. You are trying to reconcile my having 
Mrs. Bardell come here with my recent attitude towards 
good people that have her kind of perplexity. You don't 
like to think that I have grown utterly untrustworthy. 
(He pats Speiser on the shoulde*r) . 

Speiser (embarrassed) If you will excuse me — (He 
bows to Mrs. Bardell and makes a very stiff exit) . 

Mrs. Bardell (speaking with suppressed emotion) 
It is very kind of you to be willing to see me. 

Rosenthal (cordially) It will depend entirely on 
you. dear lady, whether your visit will really be worth 
your while. 

Mrs. Bardell. Yes! Yes! There are circumstances 
you don't know, you can't know! 

Rosenthal. You can tell me anything you wish — 
but nothing that will make you unhappy. (He seats 
himself behind the desk, and regards her with fatherly- 
interest) . 

Mrs. Bardell (puzzled) Nothing that will make me 
unhappy? How can I possibly be more unhappy? 

Rosenthal. By dragging your troubles into a heart- 
less law court, where they will put your unfortunate 
situation under a lens and magnify it out of all propor- 
tion — as they are doing in the newspapers. 

Mrs. Bardell. But all my husband's counter-accusa- 
tions, and the lies — ! Oh, I'm going to be free of him! 
He is not going to wipe his feet on me! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 95 

Rosenthal (gently) You speak of wanting to be free 
of him. Will you try to see that you never will be, no 
matter how many courts declare to the contrary, because 
you will keep holding up before you a false image of 
your husband, you will keep stressing the wrong side 
of him? 

Mrs. Bardell. Am I, then, responsible for his — his 
— schemes that make it appear that I am as bad as he is? 
He never could be decent! I was only deceiving myself, 
like most girls who think they have married their ideal. 
He may fight back like the beast he is, but I shall get my 
divorce ! 

Rosenthal. Mrs. Bardell, the person you hate is 
coined by you, as certainly as a coiner takes metal, and 
stamping an image upon it, makes the coin the measure 
of value. 

Mrs. Bardell [clasping her two hands tightly for self- 
control) I have had to live with all of him, his bad 
nature as well as his good! 

Rosenthal. Can you try for one hour not to be con- 
cerned with what he thinks of you? Then your own 
hatred will not blind you, and you may see a better way 
than you have taken. 

Mrs. Bardell {her jaws set) If I let go now, he will 
think that I am afraid! 

Rosenthal. And is this the way of courage? 

Mrs. Bardell. I want justice! 

{There is a pause). 
Rosenthal. In these matters there is a person whom 
I know that can be of greater help to you than I. 
Mrs. Bardell (overjoyed) Yes? 



96 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal. This person has a knowledge that heals 
all hurts. 

Mrs. Bardell (staring) I don't understand you. 

Rosenthal. She is a Christian Science practitioner. 

Mrs. Bardell (as if he had perpetrated some cruel 
joke) How can you! (With difficulty restraining her 
indignation) You can't know what has been going on! 

Rosenthal. So much do I know after my long years 
of law practice, that I prefer to turn you over to God 
instead of to a loveless law court and to lifeless legal 
quibbling that will only gibe at your helplessness. 

Mrs. Bardell. But surely, you don't say that to every- 
one who comes here! 

Rosenthal. To you because your position seems 
more difficult. Others are not so fortunate. So they 
sacrifice themselves to man's machinery for grinding 
out justice. (His voice a little higher) You think that 
I am evasive when I counsel you to seek God in your 
heart. "They who live by the sword, shall die by the 
sword!" That's practical commonsense. Mrs. Bardell, 
I'm more and more ashamed to have been a party to so 
much strife in the past! 

Mrs. Bardell (dully) That doesn't help me who have 
gone so far and must see it through. We need your 
skill not to make it worse. 

Rosenthal. No, it is rather my adroitness that you 
seek. How can that achieve honest ends? 

Mrs. Bardell (at the end of her patience) There is 
right, and there is wrong; and my happiness comes first! 

Rosenthal. We differ as to Iioav you can best get 
that happiness. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 97 

Mrs. Bardell. I believe that the law will give it to 
me. 

Rosenthal. By that you mean man-made law. There 
is a greater law that has proved capable of taking care 
of every situation, of every unhappiness. The moment 
you grasp the fact that you are an expression of that 
law, the discord will pass out of your life as the darkness 
gives way to the dawn. At once that discord will also 
cease in those who now appear to be disturbing you. 

Mrs. Bardell. You mean that my husband should go 
unpunished? 

Rosenthal. Punishment is only a confession of weak- 
ness on the part of those who judge and those who carry 
out the judgment. 

Mrs. Bardell {getting up) I can't see it! It only 
confuses me. I mustn't forget what a conspiracy they 
are trying to work up against me! If I listen to you, 
I will begin to think that it is I who have done wrong. 
Why, that is horrible! (She becomes calmer). My at- 
torneys told me that you were not interested in divorce 
cases any longer, but everybody said that I ought to 
have a talk with you. Mr. Henderson was willing for me 
to do it, as I have been so upset, and they seemed so 
slow. 

Rosenthal (gently) I know. And I have considered 
your case at greater length than you can be aware of, 
since they have spoken to me. {Getting to his feet) As 
it is, 1 have done better than you expected of me. 

Mrs. Bardell {shaking her head) What you say 
might have meant a great deal to me at one time. Now 
something is dead in me. That man killed it! 

Rosenthal. My dear friend, there was a Nazarene 



98 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

who raised the dead — because he knew that death was a 
self-imposed illusion. 

(Mrs. Bar dell goes to the door, and stands there 
in debate, as if wondering how to make a last bid 
for the assistance she wants. Then she hastily 
dabs her eyes, and without another word goes out. 
The telephone on Rosenthal's desk rings, but he, 
greatly moved, does not at once answer it. Final- 
ly he goes to it and lifts the receiver) . 
Rosenthal. Hello! .... Yes. ... Is anyone with 
him? .... Send him in. . . . 

(His face momentarily clouds as he awaits the 

caller. It is Pollitz who enters, solemn in mien. 

His nervousness makes his walk a strut. He has 

difficulty with his excess of dignity). 

Rosenthal (who has come forward with manifest 

cordiality) How do you do, Mr. Pollitz? 

Pollitz. Thank you, all right. How are you? (They 
shake hands. Pollitz speaks slowly) I hope that I am 
not in the way in breaking in on you without an appoint- 
ment. 

Rosenthal. You're entirely welcome! Make your- 
self as much at home as a place like this will permit. 
(He remains on his feet while Pollitz takes a seat beside 
the desk ) . 

Pollitz (extending a cigar) Will you join me? 
Rosenthal. I'm not smoking, thank you. You go 
ahead — everybody else usually does here. 

Pollitz (trying to be at ease) Some of the women 
who come here I suppose are inclined to. You used to 
be a heavy smoker yourself, I remember. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 99 

Rosenthal (simply) I went to get some help from 
a Christian Science practitioner in a business matter, and 
I came away with my appetite for tobacco gone. Sounds 
odd, I know. (As Pollitz while lighting his cigar glances 
around to escape meeting his eye, so as to avoid comment 
on this recital) I don't think the place has changed much 
since your last visit. There are some new books on the 
shelves. As you know, prodigious information is re- 
quired to secure justice in this world. (His unaffected 
laugh helps still further to put Pollitz at his ease) . 

Pollitz. I came near going into law myself last 
year. I got to the point where the need for recognition 
for what I was trying to do began to trouble me. One 
wants to expand, you know. The Louisville call dis- 
poses of that, thank heaven! You may have heard of it 
from Sidonie. And the papers made such a ridiculous 
ado about it. 

Rosenthal. I know several ministers who went into 
the practice of law. A man who would succeed in the 
one profession ought to succeed in the other. 

Pollitz {laughing) Just a matter of getting your 
precedents right, eh? — with Blackstone instead of Moses. 
(Warmly) I feel, Mr. Rosenthal, that we are going to 
understand each other. I was a little uneasy we might 
not. Although after all, why shouldn't we? We are 
practical men. I begin to think that the other kind is 
a harmful species. I suppose you meet that kind often 
among your clients. 

Rosenthal. They form the majority of my visitors. 

Pollitz (with a display of hesitation) Perhaps you 
have one before you right now, if his errand is any 
criterion ! 



100 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal. Suppose we say right off that you come 
with the best intentions in the world. 

Pollitz. Well, you wouldn't go very far astray. I 
have felt all along, Mr. Rosenthal, that you would al- 
ways be willing to lend a hand. I am inclined to take 
the right kind of thing for granted. 

Rosenthal. The universe waits at the fearless man's 
door to do his bidding. 

Pollitz {with a wave of his cigar) Of course, you 
know what I have in mind. As far as I'm concerned, I'm 
willing to efface myself if only when Sidonie and her 
father come here they will come to some amicable under- 
standing. 

Rosenthal. With each other, or with me? 

Pollitz. With each other. You see I am plain 
spoken. 

Rosenthal. It saves a lot of explanation in the end. 

Pollitz. Yet candor has not been the method of 
those two remarkable people, the father and daughter. 
I say it in all loyalty. Instead of Dr. Joseffy coming 
here days ago to have a talk with you, the prompting at 
this late hour comes from Sidonie who sees under what 
a strain he has been living. And they come as irrecon- 
cilables. {After a pause) Have you any definite idea 
what is bringing them? 

Rosenthal {slowly) I only know that Dr. Josefly 
left word with my secretary that he would be here at 
eleven o'clock unless he heard to the contrary from me. 
Until you told me, I did not expect Sidonie to be with 
him. 

Pollitz. It becomes our plain duty to protect her in 
the general melee. Of course, I don't say that Dr. Joseffy 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 101 

will not be considerate. He is not going to force any is- 
sue. But when the showdown comes, you can't expect 
him to be just a plain spectator. 

Rosenthal {the lightness gone out of his tone, and 
anxiety taking its place) There is no issue to be forced. 

Pollitz. Sidonie believes otherwise. In that she 
merely reflects the profound disturbance in her father's 
mind. 

Rosenthal {positively) Greater difficulties have been 
overcome, much greater. 

Pollitz. Well, I'll take my hat off to anyone who can, 
for one thing, satisfy Dr. Joseffy that Sidonie is not the 
victim of a peculiar combination of circumstances! 

Rosenthal. He is making his own problem. If you 
wish to use the word "victim," he is his own victim. 

Pollitz {troubled) If we adopt that attitude, con- 
sider the chances for further embroilment. 

Rosenthal. I refuse to consider them, Mr. Pollitz. 
We do not go about in the world constantly calling out 
in warning to ourselves. We are meant for better things 
than that. 

Pollitz. Joseffy may insist that some decision be 
reached here. 

Rosenthal {shortly) Why should decisions be 
reached ? 

Pollitz. Because the influence of them may be mo- 
mentous for the Jew in America. 

{Rosenthal does not speak at once. He eyes 
the young man before him as he weighs what he 
has just said) . 

Rosenthal. Is Sidonie interested in whether it may 
be momentous for the American Jew? 



102 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Pollitz (at once) She is! And there you have the 
crux of the whole situation! (Surprised) You mean to 
say you don't know that she considers it possible to re- 
concile Judaism and Christian Science? 

Rosenthal {after a pause) She would seem to be a 
little bewildered. It will pass away. 

Pollitz. So Joseffy feels, too; but not for your rea- 
sons. You have got to consider that you may be asked 
either to agree that the religious reconciliation is pos- 
sible, or to tell her right out that she is wrong. Putting 
her off won't work. And she hasn't enough strength yet 
to stand much buffeting, you know. 

Rosenthal (as the other waits) I am no conjurer 
to shake a method out of my sleeve, on short notice, 
for sending Dr. Joseffy away happy. 

Pollitz. Then you certainly won't send Sidonie away 
happy! After all, Mr. Rosenthal, you and Joseffy have 
one important thing in common that ought to bring a 
measure of peace for the time being. All we need is a 
respite. 

Rosenthal (not so friendly) What is it we have in 
common? 

Pollitz (dramatically) Your love for Sidonie! 

(Rosenthal goes to the window and looks out. 
He speaks without turning) . 

Rosenthal. Our respective affections for that child 
are exactly what appear to have created the difficulty. 
(Pollitz is about to speak, but thinks better of it) . You 
are certain that Sidonie has been trying to reconcile her 
ideas on Christian Science and Judaism? 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 103 

Pollitz. I am surprised that she has said nothing to 
you about it. 

Rosenthal {turning to him brusquely) I do not dis- 
cuss Christian Science with Sidonie. 

Pollitz. Then the practitioner to whom she goes. 

Rosenthal. I do not know what Sidonie says to 
Mrs. Perkins. 

Pollitz. Then the likelihood is that Sidonie doesn't 
tell her all her doubts. She should have brought them to 
you. {Feeling the lack of sympathy in the other mans 
manner) Mr. Rosenthal, you can ease the tension by sat- 
isfying her on one fact — that Christian Science and Juda- 
ism after all hold in common the belief in one God and 
that neither is idolatrous. That doesn't mean reconcil- 
ing the creeds, but it will help. 

Rosenthal. My dear rabbi, the God of Christian 
Science and the God of Judaism are not identical. They 
represent opposite poles of thought. 

Pollitz {his tone argumentative) God rules your 
world as well as mine. 

Rosenthal. Mr. Pollitz, when I was a Jew, I could 
never demonstrate the God I believed in. I had con- 
stantly to take him on faith. In Christian Science I am 
making my demonstration day by day. (Less and less 
conciliatory) Have you stopped to consider how much 
the conception of God varies from one Jewish pulpit to 
the other, even as it varies from one Christian sect to 
the other? 

Pollitz (trying not to appear ruffled) At one time 
— and you certainly were as hard-headed a thinker as you 
are today — you believed differently, and just as sincere- 
ly. It satisfied you then. Well, there can't be such an 



104 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

awful side to Judaism that you can't tell Sidonie today 
to wait yet awhile before she makes a final decision. 

Rosenthal. When people begin questioning a reli- 
gion to which they have clung for years you cannot trifle 
with them. 

Pollitz. Don't you see that is exactly what Joseffy 
is saying? If you insist on backing Sidonie's groping 
for metaphysical truths in front of him — ! Come let us 
be more lenient! {He ventures a broad, friendly smile). 

Rosenthal. But you seem to overlook that Sidonie's 
groping, as you call it, involves her well-being. 

Pollitz. She wants more than to get well. 

Rosenthal. Precisely — else we wouldn't be discuss- 
ing her. 

Pollitz {watching the effect of his words) Suppose 
that to Dr. Joseffy all this is but the endeavor to one end 
— to convert Jews? 

Rosenthal {sharply) Christian Scientists are not in- 
terested in conversions. 

Pollitz {ready to relinquish this dangerous ground) 
Then you have that, too, in common with us. The Jew 
believes that the world will come to accept his ideas 
because of the exemplary spiritual life he tries to lead. 

Rosenthal. I have long had another explanation for 
the Jew's refusal to make converts. 

Pollitz. You sound as if it were not as flattering as 
mine. 

Rosenthal. I'm afraid not. I feel sure that Israel 
did not make any attempt to bring others into the fold 
because of a sense of superiority which refused other 
races equal footing. When the Scientist, on the other 
hand, does not urge "Be one with us!" it is because truth 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 105 

is something that comes when one is ready — never before. 

Pollitz. If Sidonie seems to you to be ready for the 
truth, Dr. Joseffy certainly is not. And he will not brook 
any undervaluation of Judaism in the presence of Sido- 
nie. The solution, as I see it, is to give her some ex- 
planation that will satisfy her that she can hold her 
status as a Jewess, while from Christian Science litera- 
ture she will continue to derive the optimism which has 
helped her. I feel that Joseffy will have to be contented 
with that much. 

Rosenthal {stiffly) One of the things about decep- 
tion is that it inevitably digs the pitfall for the deceiver. 
I would be lying if I said that Sidonie could be in the 
synagogue and in Christian Science at the same time. 

Pollitz (insistently) Come! Come! You must al- 
low that there are certain spiritual truths which trans- 
cend creed and dogma! 

Rosenthal. There are. That is what we declare in 
Science. 

Pollitz. Mr. Rosenthal, I for one, am so little ridden 
by petty prejudices that I have even counted on this new 
zeal and interest to lend color to Sidonie's Judaism. That 
may sound selfish; but I've got my life to think of, 
you know. 

Rosenthal. If Sidonie can find reconciliation be- 
tween these two diametrically opposed religious tenets 
without pressure from anyone, then that settles it. But 
the first essential is that she be left alone. I had come 
to expect that in the Joseffy household, fumbling, stum- 
bling, mortal mind would be penetrated by the light 
of forbearance. Instead, within a few minutes there is 
the chance that in this office I will be threatened with 



106 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

acrimonious debate. That debate, sir, will spring from 
intolerance. Think of it — a Jew intolerant of a new 
idea ! 

Pollitz. I should think that the way out is not very 
hard if you will take it upon yourself to bring the neces- 
sary tolerance. You have been terribly misunderstood, 
Mr. Rosenthal! It has been a blind, unkind misunder- 
standing. Despite that, the Jews in Pittsburgh can grasp 
the magnanimity of self-abnegation, that supreme posi- 
tion of Jesus as epitomized in the Sermon on the Mount. 
If they saw you send Sidonie back to the synagogue, the 
hostility of the Jewish community towards you would 
disappear. That would not require any sacrifice of 
spiritual values. On the contrary, you would be seen 
in the right light. Our need is the cessation of strife, 
Mr. Rosenthal. Help us in that! 

Rosenthal {dryly) My friend, there is an account — 
at which you may have smiled — of a certain gentleman 
who is hardly regarded as a benevolent advisor, who took 
a good person to the top of a mountain and showed him 
the whole world, in all the magnificence of its material 
glamor. He offered him that material world for an ap- 
parently trifling return. Ah, Mr. Pollitz, you will have 
to offer me something less questionable than Pittsburgh's 
good opinion! Sidonie's well-being is worth it! 

Pollitz (rising angrily) What do you expect me to 
do? — acquiesce in her rejection of things she and I have 
held dear? 

Rosenthal. To mv way of thinking, we had better 
let matters take their course. 

Pollitz. Of course you will say that! That's some 
of your metaphysics! — to watch how far one can get into 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 107 

the machinery without being badly mangled! Some- 
thing has got to be done! She has no business to come 
here with her father! You yourself looked worried when 
I told you what her errand was! 

Rosenthal. In your present state of excitement, it 
were perhaps better, Mr. Pollitz, that you were not here 
when they came. I say it in all kindness. 

Pollitz. I'm just the one who ought to be here! 

Rosenthal. There is the telephone. You want to 
ask them not to come? They may not have left the 
house. 

Pollitz (wrathfully) How can I explain my sudden 
fear over the telephone? 

Rosenthal (not in a spirit of vindictiveness) Is it 
because you have been too positive about winning me 
over, and find it is too late to warn Joseffy about me? 

Pollitz. Have it as you want. You have brought me 
to a sharper realization of what I owe Judaism than all 
of Dr. Joseffy's arguments. At the same time I do not 
intend to lose my head the way he has. I certainly will 
not telephone Sidonie. That will be merely playing into 
the hands of you people. 

Rosenthal (quietly) Just a suggestion on my part. 
Or you might wait for her outside and keep her from 
coming in. 

Pollitz (fuming) Cheap stuff again, in which I will 
be at a disadvantage! And you know it. I am goins; to 
take a taxicab and go to the house. If I can catch Sidonie 
there and hold up her visit, all right. If she persists 
in coming here despite that, that's her affair. If I miss 
her and she comes here, well, we've been made fools 
of anyway ! 



108 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal {sorry for him) I am certain that what- 
ever you do, will prove the right thing. 

Pollitz {making no effort now to hide his dislike of 
the other man) We're in a bad way, and you know it! 
— and you don't care how much deeper we get into it! 

{He hurries from the room. The telephone 
rings again, as if his exit were a signal to the per- 
son who rules over the office routine) . 
Rosenthal {trying to shake off sudden dejection — 
speaking into the receiver) Yes! . . . Please send him 
in. 

{He is able to smile when he opens the door 
expectantly) . 
Rosenthal. Come right along, Perkins! {The man 
addressed comes in). I've had several surprises today, 
and you're not the least of them. 

{All that this elicits from the visitor as he 
shakes hands is a grunt. George Perkins is 
typical in appearance of many men to be found 
in the business highways of American cities. He 
is blonde, fleshy, his hair, which is thin and yel- 
low, is parted to a nicety in the middle, there is 
wariness in the smooth-shaven, round face, but 
the lower heavy jaw is at odds with his boyish 
blue eyes. He would be ashamed to be considered 
sentimental, but is ready to be highly emotional 
over things that are proper public subjects for 
emotion. In the presence of people who do not 
"stick to the point' 9 he is prone to be silent) . 
Rosenthal. Come to think of it, I can't say that you 
look jovial. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 109 

Perkins {trying to be responsively pleasant) Oh, I 
can be happy, all right! How are you? 

Rosenthal (unable to resist laughing at him) Oh, 
I'm happy, too! Have a seat. 

Perkins. Do you mind if I stand? 

Rosenthal. Not at all! You look capable enough! 

Perkins. Truth is, I'm too mad to be sitting around 
even though some people act as if my fighting days were 
over. (He takes out a cigar and proceeds to light it) . 

Rosenthal. Sounds like a case of assault and bat- 
tery. But then you don't have to come to me when you 
have "Foster & Barrett" to look after your interests. Evi- 
dently you are here for something less expensive. 

Perkins (sulkily) I don't know that it'll do any good 
telling you. If you don't mind, Mrs. Perkins is not to 
know that I came to see you. She'd say that she could 
take care of my troubles, and you oughtn't to be bothered 
with them. That comes of being a healer's husband. 
Something like being a minister's wife. 

Rosenthal. It happens that a little while ago I was 
trying to send a lady to Mrs. Perkins who came to con- 
sult me. I couldn't handle her case. 

(Perkins looks at him wonderingly, certainly 
without admiration for the admission. But since 
he concedes Rosenthal 's ability, he brushes the 
the latter s remark aside as springing from a reli- 
gious impulse) . 

Perkins. You know what you're doing, I guess. Per- 
haps you can tell me what other people are trying to 
do. There's been a mighty funny game going on these 
last few days. It's the Hebrew crowd. They're trying to 



110 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

get me. I didn't want to bother you, but you understand 
them better than I do. 

Rosenthal (surprised) What are you talking about? 
(Immediately becoming the lawyer in the face of an un- 
expected situation) Why should they want to do any- 
thing to you ? You've made money for them . 

Perkins (at the apex of wonder) That's what's got 
me! I can make a lot more for them! I'm one of their 
best little friends, take it from me! 

Rosenthal (good humoredly) I don't suppose you 
dreamed this. And seeing that you haven't any pre- 
judices when it comes to making money — not even racial 
ones — you arouse my curiosity. 

Perkins. It's the Hebrews, though! Laempfert, who 
was ready to go the limit with me on the Washington 
Block property, has laid down cold, now that I've put 
pretty nearly everything I could spare or borrow into 
it. 

Rosenthal. What did you do when you found out? 

Perkins (sourly) I've been going around hunting up 
money. It's not easy. Wallenstein, who was dead anxious 
last month to be in on this with me — you know, I turned 
him down because Laempfert was going to let me have 
money on better terms — well, Wallenstein said he was 
too busy to see me. So did Raphael Mandel. 

Rosenthal. All is not necessarily Jewish that is gold. 
How did the non-Jewish crowd treat you? 

Perkins. I'm cold with the Second National Bank, 
but I thought I'd see Hopkins anyway. 

Rosenthal. Sure. Any port in a storm! 

Perkins. Same here. The devil if need be! Hop- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 111 

kins was pleasant, too damned much so! He can turn 
you down more ways than you can shake a stick at, and 
do it as if he was your own father. Anyway, I got him 
talking, and when he quit beating around the bush, he 
said he had heard some of the Laempfert crowd talk 
about leaving me alone because I was overdoing it. You 
may bet that was spilled for his benefit! Any advice 
those people give in public isn't given away for nothing! 
It did the trick, all right, for Hopkins can't figure me 
and them being on the outs. 

Rosenthal. You're sure Laempfert knows how deep- 
ly you're in? 

Perkins. You can't keep anything from your banker. 
You couldn't bluff Laempfert, anyway. 

Rosenthal (slowly) It may be caution on his part, 
Perkins, nothing more. He may have been going in too 
deep himself, and is trying retrenchment. How did he 
act when you saw him? 

Perkins, That's it! {He extends his cigar with a 
stiff gesture, and his face screws itself up in indignation) . 
Just looked over my head! He never did that before. 
It made me mad all over, although I didn't let on. If 
I'd 'a spoken my mind, it would have raised a row, and 
the wife would have found out. She'd want to take care 
of it metaphysically. Why, he didn't even try to give 
me a decent excuse, except that he needed the money! 

Rosenthal. I'll admit it doesn't sound like him. 

Perkins (with a snort) He tried that sort of game 
before, but I had the upper hand, and he ate crow. 

Rosenthal. When was that? 

Perkins (clumsily) Sorry I mentioned it. The wife 



112 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

didn't want me ever to speak of it to you — or to anyone 
else, for that matter. 

Rosenthal. Then it must have been when I left the 
synagogue. 

Perkins (chuckling at the memory) I made Laemp- 
fert look like thirty cents, and he had to pretend there 
was no hard feeling about it. He made a bluff of calling 
in his loans on me, but I had some folks ready to catch 
me when he let go, and his good money might have got 
lost in the shuffle. He must have owed you a grudge, all 
right ! 

Rosenthal (after a pause) Perkins, I'm sorry. I 
can hardly believe that human beings are given to run- 
ning on all fours like that. 

Perkins. As for me, I think it's kind of foolish to 
mix sentiment and business. You might as well let the 
women boss the job. 

Rosenthal. I suppose you've been doing some hard 
thinking. What's Laempfert putting the screws on vou 
for? 

Perkins. I can only guess. I think, between you and 
me, they're scared about Miss JosefTy coming to see the 
wife. Eh? 

ROSENTHAL (wincing) It seems pretty far-fetched. 

Perkins. No wish to argue, but I kind of feel that 
it might be as good a reason as any. Something like that 
is bound to upset you people when it happens. Remem- 
ber the lot of fuss they made about you jumping the 
synagogue? 

Rosenthal. I can't think of Laempfert going out of 
his way to apply diat kind of pressure where, after all, 
it won't do anv sood! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 113 

Perkins. Yes, him! (With a shrug of the shoulders) 
I give it up. They're a bunch, all right! 

Rosenthal (impatiently) Perkins, you're beating the 
air when you try to discuss my people. It can't be ex- 
pected, of course, that you would be perfectly enlightened 
on that score. It's a sort of universal ignorance. (Per- 
kins stolidly puffs away at his cigar). If what you sur- 
mise is so, Laempfert and the other folks are the prey of 
anxiety. That's one evidence of the inherent weakness 
of their religion, my friend. They are in mortal fear 
that they will lose this skirmish in the fight they have been 
waging for several thousand years to keep the race spir- 
itually a unit. That's their most sensitive point. Since 
you haven't any religion, Perkins, — I know you don't 
mind my saying so — why, you can't understand them at 
all. Laempfert wouldn't act so stupidly unless he w r as 
badly worried. That ought to give you an idea of how 
intensely he feels himself a Jew! 

Perkins. That doesn't make me any more enthusiastic 
about them, when they're after breaking my back. I'm 
in no position to fight them to a finish, and they're wise 
to the fact. What gets me is, what the devil does Laemp- 
fert expect me to do about the rabbi's daughter? He 
must be thinking things I don't even dream about! 

Rosenthal. Knowing would hardly help you. 

Perkins. Well, I'm anxious to know. I don't warm 
to a thump in the dark. (Quickly) But you'd better be 
careful you don't make it worse by trying to get some help 
for me. Just think it over. There are more ways of 
killing a cat than by choking it with butter. I don't 
want to be showing my hand yet, particularly with the 
bum cards I'm holding. Of course, you can get at them 



114 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

through their priest. (As Rosenthal cannot restrain a 
smile) You don't call him a priest, do you? He hasn't 
anything to do with it, has he? 

Rosenthal (the smile disappearing — speaking sharp- 
ly) No! Of course not! He would be the first one to 
condemn such an exhibition of childishness! Don't get 
led away by the same sort of irresponsible thinking that's- 
driving Laempfert into absurdities! 

Perkins. Then Dr. Joseffy isn't our man! 

Rosenthal (staring) Our man! Oh! No! And he 
mustn't be! Those aren't the lines on which he would 
fight us or we fight him. 

Perkins. What's the use of being a good sport with 
them? They'll keep after me long enough to get me. 

Rosenthal. Judaism is bigger than that, big enough 
for the world as men accept that world today. However, 
as you didn't really come to find fault with my former 
friends, we'll put them out of the reckoning. First of all, 
let's clear the atmosphere of bad feeling. Then your 
problem will be taken care of in a surprisingly easy 
way. 

Perkins. Think you can get around those people with 
kindness? 

Rosenthal. We could. But there are other ways of 
accomplishing our object. 

Perkins (unenthusiastically) I don't believe in 
miracles. 

Rosenthal. Then we will call it a demonstration. 

Perkins (interested now) All right! You can't work 
them on me too often ! 

Rosenthal. I won't keep you in suspense. The 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 115 

demonstration has already been made. Enough money 
has been found for you to go on with. 

Perkins (a little quicker in speech) I don't say that 
it's a bad risk. It'll make money, hand over fist! (His 
eagerness fades out as he is seized with a sudden sus- 
picion) . You understand, I don't want any of your 
money! I haven't come for that, you know! 

Rosenthal. What difference does it make whether 
you came for my money or someone else's? Why 
shouldn't you use mine? 

Perkins {stubbornly) No, that's not what I've come 
for. 

Rosenthal. Why not consider yourself lucky that 
you don't have to go further? As far as this transac- 
tion is concerned, it is a matter strictly between our- 
selves. I don't want to make any money by it, either. 
I am simply going to put at your disposal enough col- 
lateral for you to go out and borrow what you want — 
or I can borrow it for you, which would be more con- 
venient for you, I suppose. 

Perkins. You would only be selling some of your 
holdings to get enough cash. There's no use putting 
yourself out like that because you're sore about Laemp- 
fert. 

Rosenthal (patiently) Perkins, I want you to get the 
idea out of your head that I am actuated by either anger 
or malice. What I am proposing is the most comfortable 
method for getting out of this for everybody concerned. 
I can do it with an easy mind because I am on the eve 
of rearranging my business plans. (Perkins, busy digest- 
ing the turn of the tide in his fortunes, listens politely) . 
I am going to give up the practice of law. Most of the 



116 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

money I can secure by converting my holdings will go 
where it can do the most good — into work that will help- 
fully influence the lives of others. 

Perkins (feeling that it is incumbent upon him to say 
something) Is that so? 

Rosenthal (smiling) I may as well start off by in- 
fluencing the life of a man called Perkins. 

Perkins (puzzled, but heaving an unrestrained sigh of 
relief) Thanks. I get you. Well, it's all right. 

Rosenthal. I'm glad you feel that way. As for 
Laempfert and Mandel and the others, they'll be on your 
side again presently, and resentment is only the buttered 
side down in business. 

Perkins. Anything you say goes! 

(The telephone bell rings. Rosenthal turns 
to it). 

Rosenthal Just a moment, Perkins. (Answers the 
call) Hello! . . Who? . . Alone? . . Please make her 
as comfortable as you can, Miss Jerome. I'll see her 
right away. (Hangs up the receiver). It's my niece, 
Perkins. She's a wonderful child! 

Perkins. Oh! Sure! I saw the man she's going to 
marry when I was coming in. (With some admiration) 
He's a little real estate sharp, that fellow, although he 
hasn't got enough to play with. 

Rosenthal. It's the trading spirit in the Jew, Per- 
kins. We can't get rid of age-long habits like that, and 
we shouldn't, unless they become an end in themselves. 
In Pollitz's case, we've got to see behind the real estate 
sharp, the Pollitz of higher moments, when God sheds 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 117 

light into his soul, and his exaltation does him full jus 
tice! 

Perkins (unwillingly giving voice to a little surge of 
feeling) You're a queer lot! (Back to business) When 
do you want me to come in to go over things? 

Rosenthal. This afternoon. Make it three o'clock. 
I'll be free, and can give you all the time you need. 
Bring all your papers. 

(Perkins is ready to go; but he makes a 
strenuous effort to explain a difficulty). 

Perkins. I'm a black sheep, I suppose. But I'm 
damned if I can see how a business man can toe the mark 
about religion. I sure am the despair of the wife! She's 
a woman — as good as they make them anywhere — 

(His apologia has trailed off into a mumble. 
Rosenthal tries to bridge the gap) . 

Rosenthal. Perkins, if you put the same effort and 
positiveness into believing that you do into doubting, you 
would get more fun out of business. Had there been a 
lot of this doubt around at the creation, we wouldn't 
be here. 

Perkins (shaking his head at the door before him as 
if to call it to witness the unfathomable depths) You 
beat the wife! See you later. 

(When he goes out, Rosenthal, who is behind 
him, stands waiting smilingly for Sidonie. She 
comes quickly into the room, and Rosenthal shuts 
the door, and with his back to it, regards her with 
an expression of utter contentment) . 
Rosenthal (as she stands hesitating, before him) 
Where can I place you to make you most comfortable? 



118 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Yet I want you to sit up, to show off all that vigor — 
we've got to express our gratitude! There, in my seat, 
between the windows! 

{And kissing her, he leads her to it; then beams 
down at her). 

Sidonie (her eyes brimming with tears) You're so 
glad! (She reaches out her hand, and he takes it and 
pais it). 

Rosenthal. With the right measure of gladness — 
not so hilarious that I will run any risk of losing my 
dignity! Don't you see that for me you are the living 
proof that my ship was right in coming into this harbor of 
divine Principle, after my so many years of existence as 
a veritable Flying Dutchman! (Laughs) I suppose I 
never looked the part, eh? 

Sidonie (anxiously) You must keep on believing in 
the demonstration. 

Rosenthal. Belief is the clock by which I live my 
hours. (Dusting the table with his handkerchief) It's 
a dirty place. That's symbolic, my dear, of the dust 
that dwells in those books. Come now! — relax! These 
crisp autumn days — they're yours to command. I, your 
uncle, say so, having had leisure this year to note their 
coming. Take dull care by the ear for being a bore and 
thrust it out of doors. And remember — (tapping the 
desk with an authoritative finger) — you're being cared 
for as far as you are willing to be cared for! (Lightly, 
as if it were the most natural thing in the world) I'm 
glad you came ahead of your father. 

Sidonie. Uncle Sydney, I simply had to come! — 

Rosenthal. All right! We'll get around to that in 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 119 

good time. Meanwhile, let's make this compromise about 
our conversation — I'll do most of it. It's all "in the 
day's work" for me. That's a joke, my dear. (More 
seriously) It happens that I've got so much to say to 
you before your father comes, that it's nothing short of 
a demonstration that you are here! 

Sidonie. Dad won't be long. 

Rosenthal. He will come not a moment too soon, 
nor a moment too late. Meanwhile I shall tell you some 
news. (His manner quiets her, and she sits back rest ful- 
ly) . I am going to give up my law practice, my dear. 

Sidonie (simply) How will you find anything else 
that can interest you so much? 

Rosenthal. "Man lives not by bread alone." (He 
sits down opposite her, his hands clasped on the desk) . 
There has been altogether too much respect for me as a 
man who can charge fat fees. 

Sidonie. Oh, no! You've always given freely. 

Rosenthal. What a worldly man gives away is never 
of spiritual consequence. Now I intend to get rid of the 
bulk of my property. Usually (and he laughs) such a 
thing is looked upon as a sign of feeble-mindedness. It 
seems to be a measure of strong-mindedness to hold on to 
as much as possible. 

Sidonie. Somehow, I can't think of you as out of 
the law practice. 

Rosenthal. Ah, my dear, you have idealized law 
through such phantoms as Shakespeare's Portia. The 
glamor about a law court is like the glamor of most 
things with which we have but a passing acquaintance. 
I want you to think of me as being freely able to do lots 
of other things. Now, if you say that you will do that 



120 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

— because it will help — (He waits for her acquiescence) . 

Sidonie. Yes, uncle. 

Rosenthal. — Then I want to tell you that I would 
like to put in trust for you an amount of money which 
will provide a satisfactory income for you. 

Sidonie {startled) No, uncle! 

Rosenthal (surprised) Yes, uncle! Come, why not? 

Sidonie. I don't think dad would like it. (Hastily) 
Not because it comes from you. (Then she catches her- 
self up) No, that's not honest for me to say, because he 
would object to it coming from you. 

Rosenthal. My dear child, let us be practical, even 
if for the time being we have to ignore the opinions of 
those we love. Remember, unless we are perfect Scientists 
— and we are far from that — we must live in a world of 
business dealings that control our comfort at every point. 
If you are not in a position to dictate, at least in part, 
the terms of your business relations, you have no more 
freedom than the indentured classes who were the slaves 
of our Revolutionary period. Money gives you the right 
to vote "yes" or "no" on all quesions that affect you. 
When the doubts you have about yourself are cleared up, 
and you will know that you are in perfect health, the 
need for material protection will be less acute. Right now 
you have got to plan. The dream world you have seen 
between the bars of your illness is a realizable world. 
And if I am not in Pittsburgh — 

Sidonie (alarmed) You aren't thinking of going 
away! 

Rosenthal. I have been thinking of going to Boston 
— not because as a Scientist I have to go to Boston, or 
will get anything there that I couldn't get here, — but to 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 121 

spend some months near the Mother Church, in the com- 
pany of good people I will meet there. 

Sidonie (trying not to show her regret at the prospect 
of losing him) It isn't the criticism here, is it? 

Rosenthal. An attorney run away from criticism? 
(Noticing her depression) I won't be away long. And 
when I have cleared up my own thoughts, I will be in a 
better position to help you with yours. 

Sidonie (shaken) Don't go away yet! — unless every- 
thing turns out well today. Don't go away! 

Rosenthal (hastily) No, not right away. (He puts 
his hand on hers) . But there's no reason why we shouldn't 
make plenty of headway today. 

Sidonie (pleading) You can't know how dreadfully 
unhappy dad is. I have been looking for ways to make 
him patient with me. 

Rosenthal. I suppose your father was bound to take 
this much harder than he did my going over to Christian 
Science; except that now it is more than his pride that 
is hurt. (With a slow shake of the head) If only he 
weren't a minister! 

Sidonie (in wonder) But isn't that just why in the 
end he is going to find it easier to understand my need? 

Rosenthal. I am not an unsympathetic brute who 
turns down his thumb and enjoys watching the scene, my 
dear child. I can very well appreciate how from the 
worldly standpoint, the situation is a serious one for 
your father, practically as serious for him as it is for 
you. His kind of life is at stake, for his vocation is 
his life. 

Sidonie. Ah, I know! I know! 

Rosenthal (immediately) Having said that, I have 



122 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

said everything for him. For you, there is your life — 
with its search for the great heights of truth, that will, 
for one thing, liberate your father, too. I am serious 
when I say that a minister's mind frequently gets to be 
a circular track, very wearisome to him, too, after his 
many, many rounds. If your hand is to be eternally 
gripped in that sort of a race — ! 

Sidonie. No, you mustn't see it that way! Perhaps 
he and I will walk together in common understanding, 
after all. That is what his presence here should mean! 
Else why did I get him to come, after everything that 
has taken place? 

Rosenthal (gently) Exactly why, child, did you get 
your father to come here? 

Sidonie. Because I think, uncle, that Judaism and 
Christian Science can find much in common to bring 
peace to those in Israel who are harrassed by sickness 
or sin or the fear of death. 

Rosenthal. And if they don't want to be free of sin, 
sickness and death because that would mean the accept- 
ance of Jesus as the pathfinder — what then? 

Sidonie (determined) Then we've got to show them 
that Jesus came to explain and to prove. 

Rosenthal. My dear, suppose they insist they don't 
want Jesus in the reckoning at all? 

Sidonie. Their need is not yet sufficiently great. 

Rosenthal. In other words, their seeking of God's 
purpose is limited by resentment towards a noble figure. 
It is true that terrible things were done to our ancestors 
by frightful scoundrels in his name. That is the root 
of the whole resentment. It makes things very difficult. 

Sidonie (with a sigh) I can understand the offensive- 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 123 

ness of a missionary who comes with a material explana- 
tion for the Christ. It is never as fine as Jewish mono- 
theism. But this is so different! 

Rosenthal (standing up) My dear girl, you know 
how you got your healing, so it seems to you that the 
light in the heavens must be visible to all eyes. 

Sidonie. Am I not a sufficient witness of it? 

Rosenthal. True. You have proved your right to 
believe. But by what have you proved your right to be- 
lieve any longer in Judaism? You were a devout enough 
Jewess for years — (He pauses). 

Sidonie (reluctantly) Yes, and it did not seem to 
help me. But perhaps I did not look in Judaism for the 
things which it has in common with Christian Science. 
Suppose I were to see it manifested, not as material, but 
as an expression of divine Mind? 

Rosenthal. At that moment, why would you persist 
in clinging to Judaism? Because you think you could 
leave out Jesus who is the key to the problem? Why 
not accept Christian Science in the full, and forget the 
impediment of past affiliations? 

Sidonie. Because I might be of help to those in the 
synagogue. In time, they will let the name of Jesus be 
spoken with ease among them, they will begin to grasp 
his contribution, they will come around to the finer com- 
prehension of love as the ruling principle in the universe. 

Rosenthal. Do the doors of the Christian Science 
Church look so narrow, that you must turn people away? 
Is it pride, Sidonie? Be courageous, even if you have to 
be critical of yourself! 

Sidonie. Don't forget that we preach the one living 
God!— 



124 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal {emphatically) No. As Jews we preached 
a God who would always think of Israel first. My dear, 
my dear, you have looked too long through your father's 
spectacles! 

Sidonie. No, uncle! On the contrary, perhaps you 
have been too close to Judaism to be able to do it full 
justice now. {As he says nothing) If you can make it 
clear to me — 

Rosenthal. I tell you, the truth you have already 
found is sufficient to put within your grasp the eternal 
verities of spirit. Do not voice error by believing 
that you are not sure of what you have gained! As 
certain as your healing is your knowledge of its where- 
fore! 

Sidonie {anxiously) I've got to know that dad will 
find accord here when he comes. 

Rosenthal {more composed) There is no difficulty 
about that. 

Sidonie {blurting out the confession shamefacedly) 
I hesitated about him because I was afraid that if he 
became a Christian Scientist, he would never adjust him- 
self. 

Rosenthal {staring at her in amazement) Afraid — 
your father — might become a Christian Scientist! So 
that was why you wanted Christian Science to become 
Jewish Science! How our affections play the dickens 
with our intentions! Still, I am too much the old Adam 
not to sympathize with your thought, although I am not 
sufficiently a Scientist to believe that your father will 
come to believe Judaism a real obstacle as a creed. 
{Firmly) But whatever you think, Sidonie, you certainly 
cannot believe with your father who does not heal, and 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 125 

at the same time believe with Jesus who healed because 
he saw the divinity that encompasses all existence. 

Sidonie (who has grown more and more distressed) 
Dad and I must be helped! We can't stumble along like 
this, uncertain of each other, and fearful of the future! 
(Emphatically) I must get help! There should be 
some unbiassed person — (Struck by a thought — quick- 
ly) Why, yes, that's the thing to do! That's what I 
should have done long ago ! 

(She reaches out for the telephone, and pulls 
it over to herself with feverish haste. Rosenthal 
is disturbed, but says nothing). 

Sidonie (calling) Schenly six-nought-nine! . . . . 
Hello! Hello! Mrs. Perkins' residence? . . . Yes, please. 
(She waits, without daring to raise her eyes to her uncle) . 
Mrs. Perkins? . . This is Sidonie Joseffy. ... I am at my 
uncle's office, and — well, I am very anxious that you 
should come over — as soon as you can. It is something 
that I can't discuss over the phone. Can you? . . . Oh, 
thank you! (She hangs up the receiver, and only then 
looks at her uncle). 

Rosenthal (avoiding any scolding tone) Perhaps you 
should have waited, Sidonie. 

Sidonie (on the defensive) For what? I need Mrs. 
Perkins' clear thought. With her here, we will act sen- 
sibly. (Her resolution vanishing) Oh, I'm so worried, 
.uncle! (She is like a little child now). 

Rosenthal. You, at any rate, shall be protected! 

Sidonie (regaining a little of her courage) You have 
suffered — you know how such a disturbance can hurt. 
I want to heal the differences, and to make a new start. 



126 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal. That, too, is one of my hopes — that 
you will come out of this fit to strengthen the courage of 
weaklings like myself. I see your hands as carrying 
precious gifts. (The telephone rings. There is a pause. 
Rosenthal takes up the receiver) . Yes. . . Send him in, 
please. (He pushes the telephone aside impatiently). 
It's your father. Will you open the door for him? 

(Sidonie's feet drag a little as she walks to the 

door; but her welcome to her father is energetic 

enough when she throws her arms about his neck. 

He looks quite helpless despite his dignity as he 

gazes over her head at his brother-in-law. When 

Sidonie releases him, he keeps his arms abou)t her, 

and so avoids speaking first) . 

Rosenthal. I can't think of a more appropriate 

reception to this place than you have just gotten, Ephraim. 

Suppose you and Sidonie fix yourselves comfortably on 

that couch, and we can chat across the room. 

(Joseffy, cold and aloof, silently places Sidonie 
on the couch, then walks slowly half way across 
the room, and comes to a halt near the Lincoln 
bust. With his back turned towards the wall, 
his head, seen from the front, is by an odd cir- 
cumstance in juxtaposition to that of Mary Baker 
Eddy, and its sternness and implacable decision is 
in striking contrast to the peaceful features of the 
founder of Christian Science). 
Joseffy. As you know, I am here at Sidonie's prompt- 
ing. I can understand that you are seeing me for her 
sake. 

Rosenthal (with a wave of the hand) I know no 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 127 

reason why I shouldn't see you for your own sake — or 
(with a short laugh) for mine. (Serious again) There 
should not be the least difficulty about our talking with- 
out the slightest embarrassment, for we can be consider- 
ate enough to be impersonal. 

Joseffy (stiffly) I shall try to be impersonal. 

Rosenthal. I didn't mean it in quite that sense. Of 
course, we haven't seen each other for some time, and 
you can't altogether know how I look at things now. 
But I don't individualize people as I used to, — that is, if 
I can help it. 

Joseffy (as before) You will find me unchanged. 

Sidonie (pleading) Dad! 

Joseffy (turning in her direction) Yes? (Catching 
the look in her eye) You can be sure, dear, that I will 
prove very reasonable. 

Rosenthal (with a nod of the head) That's good! 

Joseffy (nervously, not understanding his tone) All 
this is of great moment to me. 

Rosenthal. Of course it is. Very serious. But let's 
not make it so mirthless! We needn't be afraid that if we 
are less solemn Sidonie will feel lessened respect for our 
respective judgments. 

Joseffy. As I understand it, it is her judgment that 
she asks us to question. 

Rosenthal. I don't think we need devote a lot of 
time to that, because in the end she will do her own 
thinking. 

Joseffy. I, for my part, believe this could have been 
postponed. 

Sidonie. Dad, now that you are here, would you real- 



128 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

ly want it so? Would you be happy if we walked out 
without accomplishing anything definite? 

Joseffy. My dear, I would much rather that you went 
quietly home, and then began the long delayed prepara- 
tions for marriage. 

Rosenthal {surprised, and with a glance at Sidonie) 
It looks as if that thought were a little abrupt and un- 
expected. 

Joseffy (bridling) I am not assuming the right to 
dictate to Sidonie! 

Rosenthal {without hostility) Ephraim, she has been 
physically helpless so long, that perhaps we have gotten 
in the habit of advising her at every turn. For instance, 
I find myself still treating her as a child. 

Joseffy. I am not aware that I am in any way pre- 
determining her thinking or her conduct. 

Rosenthal, But in her eagerness to make us satis- 
fied with her, she feels that she ought to agree with us. 

Joseffy (loftily) Being a minister, and not a business 
man, my actions and my habits of thinking are supposed 
to spring from something more remote than the accidents 
of the hour. If that is the influence of which you speak, 
I won't gainsay it. As for this new disturbing element, 
this unexpected interpretation she is beginning to put 
upon religious thought, although she seeks guidance, I 
am willing to wait for a less exacting occasion. 

Sidonie. You've been marvellous, dad. 

Rosenthal (after a pause — softly) There can be no 
two interpretations about that, I suppose. 

Joseffy (regarding this as a condescension) Not so 
marvellous, or we would not be here. 

Rosenthal (interposing before Sidonie can voice a 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 129 

protest) You can't have expected that she would never 
have doubts? — Or that if she doubted, she would not 
ask you to be a party to their clearing up? It sums itself 
up simply, to me. She feels that she is a Jewess; at the 
same time she has been healed in Christian Science. 
As far as I am concerned I would prefer, just as you 
do, that she be perfectly well before she goes deeply into 
any discussion. But the healing happens to depend on 
understanding. 

Joseffy. So you would counsel her to go on. 

Rosenthal {slowly) Since her condition is mental, 
you can see that a good deal depends upon the mental 
attitude of those about her. 

Joseffy. Surely, I am not expected to share in any 
non-Jewish thinking she may do! 

Sidonie. Dad, I do want that many of the things 
I have learned should be acceptable to you. A teaching 
that makes it possible for me to sit here today without 
being weakened by the clash of ideas, and permits uncle 
to be sure that nothing exciting can happen to me must 
be God-given. Hasn't mv lack of fear impressed you, 
dad? 

Joseffy. My explanation might not be quite so easy. 

Sidonie. But you have been so fair, that there is no 
reason why we can't go right on. We'll know where the 
dissatisfactions have their roots — 

Joseffy {almost feverishly) I don't think any of us 
are really prepared. The full significance of this can 
hardly be arrived at by a desultory talk between three 
people. 

{Once more the telephone rings out sharply. 



130 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal is immensely relieved by the timely in- 
terruption) . 
Rosenthal {answering the call) Yes? ... Of course 
he may come in! (He does not rise when he hangs up the 
receiver) . 

{The door is opened to admit William Pollitz, 
who enters haughtily) . 

Sidonie {hurrying over to him in delight) Billy! 

Pollitz (kissing her gravely) Yes, I'm here, Sid! 

Joseffy (immediately) I am glad you are. It was 
meaningless not to have asked you to come with us. 

Pollitz. I was here before you came. 

Joseffy (in surprise) With Sidonie? 

Pollitz. No; alone. (Bringing Sidonie back to the 
couch) I wanted to go over several things ahead of your 
arrival. (With a shrug) It seems that I over-rated my 
powers as a diplomat. (He begins to wander away from 
Sidonie ) . 

Rosenthal. Why not sit down, Mr. Pollitz, and iden- 
tify yourself with the younger element here? 

Pollitz (mechanically coming back to Sidonie and 
taking a seat beside her, and as mechanically taking the 
hand which she lays on his arm) Have I arrived at any 
stage in the discussion that can be broken off? Sidonie 
looks tired. 

Sidonie (withdrawing her hand indignantly) Why, 
you haven't even had a good look at me! 

Pollitz {recapturing her hand) I can sense it. And 
it is easy for me to guess that all you have been doing 
is beating your wings in a void. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 131 

Rosenthal (patiently) Won't you help us, Mr. Pol- 
litz? 

Pollitz (flashing him a glance of mistrust) I am 
afraid that I will be very blunt and very disagreeable. 
Sidonie may as well hear that I am fully awake now to 
the dangerous aspects which this problem presents. 

Rosenthal (counselling caution by his tone) Sidonie 
seems to believe that we will come out all right. It is 
trite but true that forbearance presents no dangerous 
aspects. 

Pollitz (shortly) It can be a cloak for undesirable 
experiments. 

Rosenthal (with anger) Just such intolerance kept 
Sidonie from ever crossing the boundaries of the single 
book on which she based her entire religious ideas. 

Pollitz [to Joseffy) I believe you used the Old Testa- 
ment for quite a number of years yourself. 

Joseffy (to Rosenthal — almost sternly) I think you 
do want an answer for that. If so, then I must tell you 
that the Bible has spoken to me in a very illuminating 
manner. Its meanings have not thinned out for me. 
Time has but deepened them. 

Pollitz (dryly) Mr. Rosenthal insists on resting his 
case on what he believes Sidonie got out of the recent 
special interpretation provided for her. 

(Sidonie shrinks away from him, and again 
tries to withdraw her hand from his, but he holds 
it fast) . 

Rosenthal (who has let his gaze wander about — 
bringing it back to the young man) Mr. Pollitz, how 
would you like me to regard what has happened? — that 



132 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

the insight which Sidonie secured of a fine, immutable 
purpose that we may call God is all a hocus-pocus? — that 
her deliberate renunciation of a sick self was self-de- 
ception? — that to avoid any taint which may come with 
Christian Science, she is to admit evil into her world as 
a necessary essential of that world? 

Joseffy [impatiently) We are merely saying the same 
things over and over. 

Sidonie {urgently) You must, all of you, speak out! 
— without hesitation ! 

Pollitz. My dear, my dear, what will it profit us to 
hear Judaism called material, and be told that we don't 
heal — always the physical bribe by those who frown 
down the material ! 

Sidonie. "Physical bribe" is an ugly word, Billy. 

Rosenthal (very restless, and at a loss) Come, I 
can't believe that Mr. Pollitz so misses our idea as to be- 
lieve that we are after the fleshpots! 

Pollitz. Is it my fault if your methods get confused 
with your goal? 

Sidonie. But, Billy, Judaism by conceding the spir- 
ituality of Christian Science will not weaken its own 
position. 

Pollitz. You are mistaken! Your uncle's attitude 
towards Judaism is an evidence of the challenge. Boiled 
down, it wants us practically to make out a brief for the 
existence of the God of Israel. To him, our God is but 
an earth-bound deity, a relic of barbarous days, who bal- 
ances the material against the spiritual. Against that, 
your uncle hurls the doctrine of divine Principle, which 
includes everybody — you, me, the man who is about to be 
hung, the child in its cradle, the idiot who stumbles along 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 133 

in darkness, the idea that is now being penned by some 
great thinker — of course, only the best in all these. {He 
shakes his head hopelessly) . 

Sidonie. There is one test, Billy. 

Pollitz. One test for God? 

Sidonie. Why not? In His daily works, through us. 
Or not at all! 

Pollitz. So the Jew contends, too! But this search 
in which we are here indulging, is a vulgar game, in its 
attempt to tear away the veil from the ultimate mystery. 
The effort to rise higher results in our throwing overboard 
the necessary ballast which makes us human. To the 
Christian Scientist, the great stars that pace the universe 
are fragments of unreality. Organic and inorganic laws 
are brushed away. Sid, girl, there have been learned 
Jews who have been mystics, like the Chassidim, but (and 
he looks pointblank at Rosenthal) they didn't take refuge 
in trying to catch up with the Christian procession! 

Rosenthal. If you speak in bitterness, Mr. Pollitz, 
one shouldn't try to match your bitterness, for you are 
undoubtedly swayed by the long persecution of the Jew 
by pseudo-Christians. 

Pollitz. I don't care what kind of Christians you 
call them. 

Rosenthal. I will call them false Christians because 
their daily lives scorn the Christ idea, while their pre- 
tended reverence expresses itself in material, unChristian 
institutions. When the persecution of the Jew passes 
away, Israel will be able to take breath, and then will 
have the courage to clean away the fungus growth which 
is choking up its religious life. As a proof of the present 
lack of spirituality in Judaism, one need only point to 



134 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

the ambition for a Jewish political state, as if one could 
materialize the spiritual! 

Pollitz {with contempt) As a Zionist, I am suffi- 
ciently informed to call a statement of that sort arrant 
nonsense ! 

Joseffy (in a strained voice) This can be no satis- 
faction to you, Sidonie. You would be better off at home. 

Pollitz. Just a moment, Sid! [He takes both her 
limp hands in his). I have not spoken plainly to you 
before, dear, because I thought matters would right them- 
selves without our getting into ugly straits. But when I 
see you patiently sitting here, waiting for us to find some 
common ground, then I must summon the necessary 
courage to speak up. All this that you hear is not new. 
If you could have listened to Talmud Torah students in 
past ages, and heard their quibbling, you would find this 
atmosphere singularly familiar. Right now, since you 
do not have to look at religious theory through the eyes 
of the sick any longer, but as a Jewess who sees the real 
sun shining everlastingly in a real firmament, you don't 
have to stray very far away from what you've been told 
for twenty years. 

Sidonie. Oh, Billy, Billy, do not speak so slightingly 
of the sick! They have brought more misunderstanding 
about God than any other cause! 

Pollitz. I suppose until Jesus showed that illness 
was a figment of the imagination? 

Rosenthal. No, Mr. Pollitz. Until he showed what 
a contradiction there is between an all-wise Creator and 
a sick world! 

Pollitz. Are you sure that your Nazarene dreamer 
did not turn to the halt and the blind and the starving 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 135 

because their misery made them more gullible to ecstatic 
visions? And right there is where you and we have our 
difference in the reading of Holy Writ. We find in it 
man making a neighbor of God. You find in it God 
making a ghost out of man ! 

Joseffy (indignantly) May I ask how Sidonie is to 
find clarity of thought against such a background of 
conflict? This place no longer serves any honest pur- 
pose. 

Sidonie. It is in between the words of you ail that 
I am finding my way. But I do want you to speak, too, 
dad. Don't be afraid that what you say may hurt me. 
Tell me: you don't like the word Christian, do you? 

Joseffy (slowly) I do not see how I will help you 
by answering that question. 

Pollitz. Sidonie, don't you know that the "opinion" 
of people who do not think as we do is called "pre- 
judice"? 

Joseffy (as if Pollitz had not interrupted) No, I do 
not like the word "Christian" because to me it is a con- 
tradiction when used to indicate religious practice. It is 
hard to overlook the fact that the advent of him who is 
styled the "Prince of Peace" ushered in a period so in- 
toxicated with hate and with the need of hurting, so in- 
tent on destroying the body and soul of Israel, that to the 
fair-minded student of history Christianity is a colossal 
insult to liberalism of thought and action. The fact that 
your uncle says that I am not talking about real Chris- 
tians does not alter history. There is something patho- 
logical in a creed that manages to find an excuse for de- 
struction. In the same way it has championed both sides 
of all terrible wars. 



136 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal. Christian Scientists would have perished 
in the torture chamber, on the bonfire, on the block or 
under the lances or guns of these so-called Christians. 

Pollitz (laughing incredulously) There is nothing 
new in the maltreatment of Christian sect by Christian 
sect. More important, however, is the possibility that 
Christian Science has come on the scene to stay the col- 
lapse of Christianity as a world religion now robbed of 
its utility. Jews turn to it, not because they find Juda- 
ism an out-worn creed, but through physical or mental 
distress. 

Rosenthal (quietly) So you insist. But Judaism, 
too, has recognized that man's adversity is God's op- 
portunity, except that it has been at a loss how to ac- 
count for this form of Divine conduct. 

Pollitz. You forget the likely end of the story, Mr. 
Rosenthal. The restless human tide that drifts to you 
will drift from you to the next explanation of mental 
healing. I say it from a fairly sympathetic survey of 
your creed. I am not one of those rabbis who tears a 
paragraph out of "Science and Health" and holds it up to 
ridicule, or mocks the personal failings of some healer. 
(Rising) Still, out of discord shall come truth, as out of 
a flashing nebula are born worlds — and eventually 
creeds. 

Joseffy (coming to the settle) Yes, Sidonie, let us 

Pollitz. Yes, do, girlie! And don't be discouraged. 
Take all the time you need — months if necessary — to get 
a right answer for your question. 

Joseffy (as Sidonie thrusts herself back, her eyes wide 
open) That is no unbearable suggestion. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 137 

Sidonie (wretchedly) Dad, Abraham was willing to 
sacrifice his son at the call of God. This is a call from 
God, even though I am not as worthy as Isaac. Sup- 
pose I do not suffer from this ordeal, but grow the 
stronger for it? That would be God's answer to you, as 
he answered Abraham. Why do you lack trust? Deny 
unfalteringly the logic of Christian Science if you feel 
that you must, but stay and answer for Judaism. Only 
in that way, dad, can we ascend! 

Pollitz. How can you be so morbid? 

Joseffy (with a wave of the hand to him) Please! 
(To Sidonie) We are all very human. This has been 
very difficult to meet calmly. 

Sidonie. If only you will let me go on and finish my 
healing without anxiety as to where it will lead, without 
self-accusation — 

Joseffy. I will do my best, but I cannot remake my 
conscience in a few hours. 

Pollitz. Sid, don't ask the impossible right now! — 
from any of us! — 

(The telephone rings again, and Pollitz stops 
abruptly. Rosenthal answers the ring) . 

Rosenthal. What is it? Oh! Tell her to 

come in, please! (He hangs up the receiver. To the 
three at the end of the room) Pardon me. 

(Sidonie gets to her feet in expectancy as her 
uncle goes to the door, then sinks back; only to 
rise again with a look of determination. 

(Rosenthal opens the door to Mrs. Charles 
Edward Perkins). 



138 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal {putting out his hand) Honored! 
Mrs. Perkins [shaking hands while she glances quick- 
ly at the others) That sounds very nice! 

(She is tall, straight, enigmatic, self-possessed, 
and at fifty seems to have successfully defied any 
serious encroachment of middle age. Small, black, 
brilliant, humorous eyes are set under a high fore- 
head. There is a suggestion of humor about the 
full lips. Her manner is leisurely, but it belies 
great nervous energy. She is an exceptionally 
well-balanced person, and her visions are very 
concrete) . 
Sidonie (coming forward) It's so good of you! 

(Pollitz glances quickly at Josefjfy, who is look- 
ing nowhere in particular and is very uncomfort- 
able. Mrs. Perkins gives Sidonie a hug) . 
Sidonie (gravely) My father, Mrs. Perkins. 
Mrs. Perkins (bowing past Sidonie) Dr. Joseffy! 

(He bows silently in return). 
Sidonie (continuing the introductions) Mr. Pollitz — 
Mrs. Perkins (amiably) Oh, now I know, my dear, 
who the Mr. Pollitz you spoke of is! At the trial when 
Mr. Rosenthal did such splendid work in my behalf, Mr. 
Pollitz was among the very first to congratulate me after 
the jury brought in the verdict. He said such nice things! 
(To Pollitz) I am glad to see you again! 

Pollitz (with a nod, and trying to conceal the fact 
that he is nettled) There is no denying the dramatic in- 
terest there is in trials. I attend them regularly and en- 
joy them as spectacles. Naturally, I take sides. 

Rosenthal (hastily drawing up a seat for Mrs. Per- 
kins) This is an invitation for you to be one of us. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 139 

Mrs. Perkins. That isn't difficult at all. {To Sidonie) 
My dear, the roses are blooming in your cheeks. And 
what a lovely dress you have on ! What a contrast to the 
place itself! (She looks at the books). 

Rosenthal (laughing) Oh, well, you must remember 
that some of the ideas in those books have wandered in 
shabby places. 

Mrs. Perkins. Still, how wonderful the judges look 
when they quote them ! 

Pollitz (interested in spite of himself, yet hostile) 
There was the summing up of one judge which, I re- 
member, you said struck a blow for liberty of conscience. 

Mrs. Perkins (smiling) I suppose it stood out in 
contrast to all the absurd things said by the prosecution. 
Mr. Rosenthal was an offender, too, with his talk about 
freedom and rights of conscience, because he hesitated 
to talk about God! 

Sidonie (who has gone back to the couch) That's 
beautifully said. (Mrs Perkins gives her a little nod). 

Pollitz. For all that, the jury seemed bewildered. 
They were asked to reverse what you would call their 
human judgment. 

Mrs. Perkins. I see only the result. 

Pollitz. You do not do sufficient justice to Mr. 
Rosenthal's deftness in removing the ground from under 
their feet, and leaving them suspended in thin air, where 
justice assumes a new guise. 

Mrs. Perkins. I think it was the best address I had 
ever heard! It didn't seem possible that such stolid men 
could be so interested! 

Pollitz. Mr. Rosenthal almost made them believe in 
miracles. 



140 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Mrs. Perkins. There was the miracle of his pleading 
for something which could not have been quite clear to 
him then! 

Pollitz (pretending to stifle a yawn) That is a more 
common condition than is currently appreciated. 

Rosenthal {good -humor edly) I have done better 
since. 

Pollitz. You mean you could convince them today? 

Rosenthal. Not by the same method, Mr. Pollitz. 

Pollitz. It is the best possible method at any time. 
People will always consider ideas like the freedom of 
conscience a more tangible thing than the steel mills 
over there. 

Mrs. Perkins. And so it is! And you believe it is, 
Rabbi Pollitz! For it will outlive those mills. 

Pollitz. My reference was to the danger of vague 
ideals. There has never been freedom of conscience. 
If there was, you would have refused, in a case like yours, 
to be tried by the laws that had their rise among men 
to whom mankind as a whole was so much chattel. 

Mrs. Perkins [with a little shrug) "Render unto 
Caesar that which is Caesar's." The jury didn't care 
about the law. They answered a deeper call. Juries will 
do it more and more when we cease being cynical about 
them. 

Sidonie [out of the depths of her longing) We must, 
none of us, be kept eternally on trial! 

Mrs. Perkins. My dear, out of our ignorance we 
create our own court, and jury, and guards, and for- 
bidding judge. 

Pollitz [with harshness) Our trial is our self -revela- 
tion! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 141 

Mrs. Perkins. Like the Hindoo fakirs that lie on 
nails? No, thank you! I want comfortable upholster- 
ing! 

Pollitz. For that which is eternal? (To Sidonie) 
That wasn't spoken in a scoffing spirit. But I don't like 
to think of your acquision of good health as falling in 
quite the same category as a liking for soft upholster- 
ing. 

Mrs. Perkins {without resentment) Nor think of the 
ill health in the same category as the nails of the fakir, 
Mr. Pollitz? For that is all it is. 

Pollitz {leaning forward) If she denies to the extent 
of completely detaching herself from facts, like the 
jury which had the ground taken from under its feet, 
where do the rest of us come in? If she insists that what 
she was six months ago is not real, her denial includes 
us also who were with her then. It means she must deny 
all human relationships at all times, forswear the bonds 
which hold her, and which held her, to those who brought 
her into the world! 

Sidonie (aghast) Billy! What are you getting at? 

Pollitz. My dear, I am trying to save the reality of 
the you that I know from disappearing out of our ken 
altogether. 

Mrs. Perkins (to Sidonie) It seems that Mr. Pollitz 
is somewhat uncertain about human relations as a Scien- 
tist views them. 

Pollitz (his tone bordering on mockery) Uncertain 
about the Sidonie that you believe is there? No! How 
could I be, Mrs. Perkins? Or you, Mrs. Perkins? 

Mrs. Perkins. That which is God-given is permanent 
enough. 



142 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Joseffy (50 unexpectedly that there is a perceptible 
start on the part of all except the healer) Mrs. Perkin9, 
may I ask if you have any children? 

Mrs. Perkins (folding her two hands placidly, and 
speaking as if the question was natural enough) My 
motherhood has been limited to being a sort of "mother 
in Israel" — helping to raise the stricken, deny sin with 
them, and understand that God is service inasmuch as He 
is love. 

Pollitz. Is the difference between ministering and 
mothering merely a poetical use of words? 

Mrs. Perkins (smiling) A woman preacher would 
understand that best. 

Joseffy (trying not to show how painful all this is to 
him) Little as I understand Christian Science, I cannot 
believe that it could hold out such an abstracted relation- 
ship to Sidonie, and be able to win her interest. 

Mrs. Perkins. It offers her a working understanding 
of everything that goes on about her in terms of spirit. 
Outside of such an understanding, is there anything of 
importance, Dr. Joseffy? 

Joseffy (with unexpected vehemence) Don't mistake 
me! If I believed for one moment that the acceptance of 
Chrisian Science principles would rid the world of ills 
because it encompassed the idea of God more fully than 
Judaism does, I would come to it, despite my loathing of 
what Christianity has brought in its two thousand years 
of false idealism and thwarting of hopes. Without it, 
the world would have arrived at the monotheism of Israel, 
and the race would have escaped five hundred years of 
mediaeval barbarism. To allow Christian Science to re- 
make human reasoning on the scale which it threatens is 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 143 

to forget how painfully civilization is coming into its 
own. If I speak forcibly it is as a reminder that we must 
think forcibly ! 

Mrs. Perkins (simply) I understand exactly how you 
feel. At one time I had just that battle against accepting 
a creed which would so profoundly change my world for 
me. I had lived so long with the image of God as a 
god of wrath, of punishment, and even of revenge, I had 
so long assented to the idea of a material Jesus giving 
up a material body as a sacrifice to appease such a wrath- 
ful God, that I believed Christian Science born of Satan! 
I had been accustomed to approaching God as if He 
had to be humored like a spoiled child, or flattered like a 
vain woman. Naturally, when I first read Mrs. Eddy, I 
utterly despised her and those who, through weak-minded- 
ness and self-deception, believed her and followed her. 
They appeared to be deceiving themselves in order to 
accomplish some selfish purpose. (She pauses, as if to 
build up the contrast) . After the storm, the calm, Dr. 
Joseffy! All the babel of confusion, all my resentment, 
became very laughable. Since then, all that has taken 
place in my life has been on that plane of peace. I bring 
you this message of peace hopefully. 

Pollitz (cautiously) Of course, we appreciate your 
coming here to help us. 

Mrs. Perkins (surprised) I had not been aware of 
any particular purpose in my being here. 

Sidonie. It was I, Billy, who phoned Mrs. Perkins 
when my talk with uncle brought out so many difficulties. 

Pollitz (with a bow to Mrs. Perkins) My mistake! 

Rosenthal (severely) Neither Mrs. Perkins nor my- 
self, Mr. Pollitz, have endeavored to thrust explanations 



144 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

upon Sidonie, even if we judged that we had a right to 
do so. 

Pollitz (urbanely) I do not question that. Still, 
with all due respect to your thoughtfulness, there is a 
particular kind of burning that is called "error" and 
it would seem to justify saving from the burning such 
brands as are worth saving. 

Mrs. Perkins (as Rosenthal is about to flare up in 
angry retort) And only a little while ago, Mr. Pollitz, 
you pointed out that for us Sidonie did not represent a 
human personality. (Smiling) Don't you suppose that 
if one is going to think of people as brands, one is likely 
to get burned? No, Mr. Pollitz; in Science there are no 
brands to be saved from the burning. There is light, 
but without heat. The command that came to Sidonie to 
cast out her sick self, came from within. 

Pollitz. In other words, each one is to be his or her 
own Messiah! 

Mrs. Perkins. "Even thou hast said it!" Is not the 
whole world struggling to be released from numbing 
materialism, turmoil, suffering and unrest? To bicker 
with a world which hungers for august things is to en- 
throne wretchedness for all time! 

Joseffy [who has been watching Sidonie and sees how 
she hangs on every word) And up to this time, Mrs. 
Perkins, are we to consider that God has been a negligible 
factor in this world? I read history as the recital of the 
upward climb of mankind through suffering. 

Mrs. Perkins. Ah, but your Bible shows you a long 
line of wise men who sought ways and means to end the 
suffering. When it finally reached an intolerable point, 
when all the highways to and from Rome into Europe, 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 145 

Asia and Africa were congested with the wretched and 
forlorn and suffering, and the world, uneasy under its 
corruption, waited, even as a sufferer waits for the morn- 
ing during a night of pain, complete illumination came 
through one who was competent to meet the need. Jesus 
came to proclaim man spiritual; hence man must live 
accordingly. (Her voice rising) Once more the roads of 
the world are crowded with the wretched and despairing. 
Forget the outward show of material success! The need 
will have to be met! 

Joseffy {reluctant to appear controversial, yet im- 
pressed to the point of offering a rejoinder) God gives 
man trials to test him, to see whether he can escape his 
lower nature with its lust for power or for ease and 
pleasure. Suffering, sorrow, and the temptation to sin 
hold out the choice between good and evil. Through this 
choice, either we ascend, or the mark of the beast re- 
mains for all time on us. This is neither materialism nor 
error. It is man's struggle out of a lower nature into 
a higher. 

Rosenthal. Ephraim, if you will turn that over in 
your own mind, and study its contradictions, you will be 
self-answered. 

Joseffy (with dignity) I cannot conceive that God 
would make sport of us by giving us the gifts to shape 
the world to our will, and then have us spurn the world 
as an illusion. I accept our civilization and our daily 
life as illuminated by a purpose that is pre-eminently 
practical. It has its roots in the soil of millions of years 
which went before life finally shaped itself on this earth. 
It speaks out of the experience of the lower forms of life 
climbing to a higher and intelligent self, and culminating 



146 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

in man. That requires neither saving, nor the exorcising 
of devils. It does need more illumination, more enlight- 
enment, more education, more self-sacrifice. For that the 
Jew has always fought, with unparalleled intensity, just 
as he has struggled out of idolatry to monotheism. 

Pollitz (who has been restless and impatient) Can't 
you see that while we speak of one world, they speak of 
another? 

Joseffy {as if humiliated by the sudden discovery) 
Yes, I am merely arguing. (He looks towards Sidonie). 

Sidonie [interpreting the glance — speaking in a tired 
voice) Dad. if you wish, we will go home. 

Pollitz {hastily) Not right away. Please, Sid! I 
would like to broach an idea which may be of some help 
at this unhappy juncture. (To Joseffy) It is that Sido- 
nie take a trip somewhere, for a year or two, anyway, 
out of this confusion. 

(Rosenthal leans forward to speak, then sits 
back without a ivord) . 

Joseffy {impatiently) You have suggested that be- 
fore. It should not be necessary for Sidonie to go to 
such lengths to find ease of mind. She can do so in 
her own home. 

Pollitz. I am thinking of the diversion it would pro- 
vide. She and her mother can visit new countries, see 
new peoples and new customs. There are a number of 
tours, attractively arranged to smooth out the way for 
the traveller. 

Joseffy (as before) She can certainly go if she 
wishes. But in her present state of health, I fail to see 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 147 

the wisdom of it. And the glamor of tourist life cannot 
stand close scrutiny. 

Pollitz. She will gain in strength, and with it an 
increasing interest in the life about her. We will all 
make it a point not to feel badly about losing her for a 
short time. {Turning to her) Sidonie, I don't know 
w r hat sort of a honeymoon we would have if we married 
right away, because I hope a lot of my ambitious plans 
will materialize in the next six months, and I can't ask 
Louisville for any leave of absence just after my ap- 
pointment. 

Sidonie (in a low voice) But to send me away, Billy! 

Rosenthal [gently) It isn't meant that way, child. 

Sidonie. The Holy Days are coming that have always 
meant so much to me! [After a pause) I think I wouldn't 
want to stay away from the synagogue on the Holy Days. 

Joseffy (decisively) Then you shall stay! 

Rosenthal (exasperated) And perpetuate her dis- 
tress? 

Pollitz (to Joseffy) That's the prime consideration 
just now. 

Sidonie (to Mrs. Perkins — plaintively) Won't you 
say something? 

Mrs. Perkins. My dear, there can be but one right 
course. If you will believe that, you will require neither 
direction nor opinion. 

Pollitz (with a superior smile) Sid, you spoke of 
not wanting to miss the services during the Holy Days. 
Remember that you can carry the thought of what the 
synagogue means wherever you go. Our place of worship 
and our services offer nothing mystical, nothing that 
could not be preached under the open sky in the broad 



148 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

sunlight. Take the trip abroad that I suggest. You are 
entitled to a play period, a holiday — to celebrate your 
better health, for one thing. 

Rosenthal. Mr. Pollitz is right, Sidonie, in admon- 
ishing you not to rule your actions by fear. 

Sidonie. And is that all that any of you can tell me? 
— that either I should take my doubts abroad with me, or 
stay at home with them? 

Pollitz. Come, Sid, you don't know the extent of 
your demands on us. In what sort of a frame of mind 
would you expect your father on the one hand and Mr. 
Rosenthal on the other to come out of such a meeting 
as you want if they each made momentous concessions? 
If you are going to stress love as the certain ground under 
your feet, give us the chance to hold on to it. 

Sidonie (to him — more and more hopeless) All that 
you are anxious about is that I should ask no more ques- 
tions for some time to come. 

Pollitz. Very well, Sid; leave it at that. It saves 
me the unpleasant business of rehearsing just what your 
father and I owe to the many to whom we stand as the 
Levites at one time did — guardians of the Temple! 

Sidonie. Surely, Billy, it can't be of your position, or 
that of father that you are really thinking! 

Pollitz [turning to Mrs. Perkins) Are there not rest- 
ing places on the way to the goal which is called Chris- 
tian Science? Or must Sidonie hurry on precipitately 
for fear that she will lose her zeal? 

Mrs. Perkins. Sidonie must go to her understanding 
to find her way. (Turning to her) Dear, above all, do 
not fear that there will be no place where your Heavenly 
Father is not. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 149 

Pollitz And, Sid, let us give a thought to the earthly 
father as well. There is no degradation in making con- 
cessions to paternity as the symbol of eternal life. 

Rosenthal {warningly) Child, your thoughts will 
become clearer when you consider your own spiritual 
needs first. 

Sidonie {coming to her father unsteadily) Dad, I am 
very tired. I — I must get away. 

Joseffy (alarmed, and putting a steadying arm about 
her) So you shall, at once! 

Pollitz (hastening forward anxiously) You're not 
feeling ill? 

Rosenthal (who has risen) Sidonie, deny that 
thought ! 

Sidonie (leaning against her father) I'm not ill. 
Daddy, you're not angry, are you, about my having 
brought you here? 

(Rosenthal, who has had difficulty in restrain- 
ing himself, groans and turns away helplessly) . 

Joseffy (conscious only of the weight in his arms) 
No! No! I'm not angry about anything! Don't doubt 
that you've been anything but a great help to me. You 
have given significance to life, dear. You have made it 
impossible for me to narrow my life. That should save 
you from isolation! (He kisses her). 

Pollitz (pointedly) Was there ever a finer article of 
faith? And now for home! 

Rosenthal (looking at his watch) You will find my 
car downstairs. Use it. 

Pollitz (as Joseffy shows hesitation in accepting the 
offer) We can get a taxicab in a moment in the street. 



150 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie. We will use uncle's car. (She smiles at that 
man). And thank you, too, Mrs. Perkins — for every- 
thing. 

Mrs. Perkins. I also am grateful, Sidonie. 

(Pollitz, who has taken Sidonie' s wrap from the 
couch, throws it about her. As Joseffy leads her 
out, Pollitz is about to follow, but Rosenthal in- 
tercepts him, and with a peremptory gesture, mo- 
tions him to stay... Then the attorney shuts the 
door, and hastens to explain). 

Rosenthal. I think they had better be left to them- 
selves, don't you? 

Pollitz (resentfully) You want me left behind be- 
cause you think I would take advantage of the situation! 
Whereas you regard Joseffy as harmless! Very well! — 
I shall stay long enough to get something off my mind! 

Rosenthal (turning from him) I didn't think there 
was anything more to say. 

Pollitz. Polite things, no! But here's where my 
politeness goes into the discard! You both had your 
chance to send her away somewhat reassured, and, in- 
stead, here she is half-crazed with doubt! Dr. Joseffy 
didn't realize what was happening under his very nose! 

Rosenthal (with restraint) You are the man Sidonie 
is going to marry: that gives you certain rights, but not 
the liberty to make absurd charges against people who 
care for her. 

Pollitz. In a case like this, mistrust is essential for 
self-preservation. (More angrily) Joseffy doesn't see 
that when Sidonie has gotten over today's fiasco, she will 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 151 

resent the way he walked off with her tucked under his 
arm like a prize! 

Rosenthal (with studied patience) Mrs. Perkins, 
are we to take this young man seriously? 

Pollitz. The trouble is you haven't been taken seri- 
ously enough! The subtlety with which you sowed your 
words has been an education to me. I tell you, until 
now I left you people alone. Henceforth it is war! 
Joseffy was right when he opposed my foolish tolerance 
by charging that you were all dangerous! 

Rosenthal. Well, whatever you may do about us, 
leave father and daughter severely alone, particularly if 
you want to hold Sidonie's respect. 

Pollitz. I'll risk that! She's got to be saved before 
her personality is bleached dry and left purposeless — a 
warning to others, perhaps, but a disaster to those who 
hoped for something differently for her! 

Rosenthal (conciliatory) Come, sit down and talk 
sensibly! You can be better than the plaything of your 
feelings! Consider how much Sidonie has been buoyed 
by your cheerfulness in the past. Criticism and censure 
from you would be the worst possible thing for her. 

Pollitz. It seems to me you've been staking a great 
deal on the kindness of others! All the concession is to 
come from the other side! Well, Sidonie is not going 
to come near you again if I can help it! You may have 
regarded me as a good-natured, negligible factor in this 
thing, but I'll disappoint you! (He goes out precipitate- 

ly). 

(Rosenthal stands gazing moodily after him). 
Mrs. Perkins. You used to be an excellent lawyer, 



152 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

who was rarely discomfited by an opponent's excitability. 

Rosenthal {dismally) In what a state she left! 
Consider the disturbing influences at work around that 
child. It is not heroic to let them have the last word with 
her. How frail she looked! — how anxious to be set 
right! There is no pity in man's prejudices! It is like 
a hungry wolf! I should have gone home with them, 
despite my wish to make my demonstration by remaining 
here. {He sits down at the desk again, his face wrin- 
kled with worry) . 

Mrs. Perkins {without raising her voice) Mr. Rosen- 
thal, you are looking error straight in the eye, and yet 
you don't see its impotence! 

Rosenthal. I wish I could. My material thinking 
keeps getting in the way. You saw how I acted! 

Mrs. Perkins. Are we to resort to the unfortunate 
line of thought that Dr. Joseffy and Mr. Pollitz find neces- 
sary to satisfy those about them? 

Rosenthal. But that is the young man she is going 
to marry and spend her life with! 

Mrs. Perkins. No, not the one you are now seeing 
through your mist of error. 

Rosenthal. And think: back in that house is this 
girl's mother, sick herself, who in her desperation got 
Sidonie to write me from Michigan to send her "Science 
and Health" — and now must keep quiet! 

Mrs. Perkins. Yet that mother had sufficient charac- 
ter, and love, and mother-wisdom not to come here today. 

Rosenthal. Sidonie should not have telephoned 
you. I could have managed them somehow. And she 
would have had you to fall back on later. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 153 

Mrs. Perkins. Read your Bible lesson for the week. 

Rosenthal (with a sigh) I suppose I sound like 
Mr. Pollitz when I say that this is a lesson for a life- 
time. 

Mrs. Perkins. Have you stopped to consider that it 
may be the turning point, the chemicalization of which 
our dear Leader speaks? 

Rosenthal. It is inaction that frets me. Mrs. Eddy 
doesn't demand that. I should never have let him take 
her away! 

Mrs. Perkins. But remember, too, that she says, 
"Our true temple is no human fabrication, but the super- 
structure of Truth, reared on the foundation of Love, and 
pinnacled in life." Take into account what is assuredly 
ahead of us. The hands on the dial of the universe point 
to the hour when we shall hear great tidings. Man will 
then truly be as the Son of God. What place can our 
impatience have in the approaching hour of annuncia- 
tion? 

(Rosenthal seeks to shake off his depression. 
Mrs. Perkins prepares to go. The curtain falls 
a\s she holds out her hand to him smilingly in 
parting) . 

(Curtain) 

(Two weeks intervene between Acts II and III) 



ACT III 

The scene is the same as in Act I. The time is late 
morning. 

A committee of five, who represent the trustees of Dr. 
Joseffy's synagogue, is awaiting him; it includes a physi- 
cian, an attorney, two merchants, and a banker, the last 
in the person of Charles Laempfert. 

The physician, Dr. Stanley Kantor, is lying full length 
on the settle, with no pretence at dignity. The others 
appear to take for granted his disregard of the comport- 
ment required by the occasion. Kantor is given to highly 
colored ties and stockings, and loose tweed garments. 
The customary Vandyke beard is in evidence, and his 
heavy-lidded eyes regard the world somewhat cynically 
through gold-rimmed glasses. 

In the chair on the left of the fireplace, and grateful 
for the warmth that its logs shed, is Leopold Brenner, 
the owner of a department store on a modest scale. 
He is tall, thin, asthmatic, impatient and pessimistic. 
Despite the hopeless character of his outlook on the life 
lived by the bulk of his fellows, he is vehement in his 
earnestness and tireless in the acceptance of synagogue 
responsibilities. His burning desire "to have things 
right" leads him into all sorts of kindnesses to his fel- 

154 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 155 

lows, with the result that he makes them far happier than 
he himself can possibly be. 

Flanking the fireplace is Joseph Wallach, another mer- 
chant, and the owner of a very large department store, 
who is physically and mentally Brenner's antithesis. He 
is short, with rosy, smooth features, hair carefully 
brushed, is fastidiously dressed, and as he gazes placidly 
before him, seems to float gently on a sea of mental ease 
which no storm has ever ruffled. 

Charles Laempfert is behind the library table. He is 
busy with some papers; but although he frequently makes 
notes on the sheets before him, he is alert to the general 
conversation. 

On the other side of the library table, as if desirous 
of basking in the radiance cast by the banker's presence, 
is Albert Shotton, an attorney. He is a young man, with 
pointed features, grey eyes, prematurely grey hair, a 
judicial aspect, and is careful in public to maintain a 
close guard over his emotions. 

Shotton is the only one who is not smoking. With the 
exception of Dr. Kantor all are very serious, and con- 
scious of an important errand. 

Shotton (in the crisp, precise tones of one addressing 
a courtroom) There is no use trying to understand why 
Dr. Joseffy has persisted in not taking us into his con- 
fidence. 

Wallach {cheerfully) Family affairs don't make 
good advertising, even if it happens to be the best family 
of its kind in the world. 

Brenner. It's upset me more than anything that's 
happened recently! Kantor will tell you! (He jerks his 
head in the direction of the physician) . 



156 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Dr. Kantor (with a drawl) Your stomach can't stand 
your nerves, and your nerves aren't made for this kind of 
a world. That's makes you a hundred percent American 
business man, Brenner. 

Brenner [looking at Kantor) They don't know I had 
to stay in bed for a day! 

Dr. Kantor. The difference between you and Dr. 
Joseffy is that he hasn't taken his tattered nerves to bed. 
That's where he belongs. If he had gone there a week 
ago, he wouldn't have handed us any resignation, and 
created the most amazing situation in the synagogue since 
Rosenthal dropped us. 

Brenner [almost stammering with indignation) We 
don't have to accept it, that's all! No reason — not even 
any reason Dr. Joseffy can give — is right for a hasty 
action like that! 

Shotton. Reason, as we understand it, may have 
nothing to do with his resignation. 

Dr. Kantor (dryly) You mean, it's not the sort of 
reason you could convince a jury with. 

Brenner (gloomily) It hasn't convinced us, or we 
wouldn't be here. (With sudden vigor) Yes, yes, we 
must insist that he drop all that and take a leave of 
absence! Think of Christian Science — eh, what is the 
word? — yes, defiling the synagogue in that way! 

Dr. Kantor. You mean "defying", Brenner, or some- 
thing else. 

Brenner (waving this aside) Isn't Sidonie defiling it? 
None of you really have got the courage to say so! We 
know next to nothing of what has been going on. As 
Shotton says, for some reason we have not been taken 
into Dr. Joseffy's confidence. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 157 

Shotton. I didn't quite say that, Brenner. But it 
is the same thing. The situation proves that, in one way 
or another, our big men are lonely individuals. 

Dr. Kantor. When are your particular moments of 
loneliness, Al? 

Shotton (snapping back) When I attempt to follow 
your witticisms! 

(There is silence, as if the others wished to re- 
buke the principals for chancing differences on 
such an occasion). 

Brenner [clearing his throat with a rasping sound 
that make them all turn to him) Kantor, as an old friend 
of the family, you ought to insist on seeing Sidonie. 

Dr. Kantor [coming to a sitting position) I'll do 
much better if I insist on giving Dr. Joseffy some pro- 
fessional advice, and take up the slack on his physical 
condition. I don't feel like interfering in Sidonie's af- 
fairs at this stage — I'd be like the proverbial fifth wheel 
to the wagon. She seems to be getting better again, and 
if Joseffy says that she is getting around after her set- 
back, despite all his fears about her, that ought to settle 
it. 

Brenner (grieving) And her relapse, instead of being 
a warning to her of God's anger, simply makes her more 
anxious to get back to those Christians! 

Dr. Kantor (to Laempfert) Charles, what has Joseffy 
been saying to you, anyway? I don't mean those things 
that you don't mind our telling our wives. 

Laempfert (laying down his papers) He has hardly 
told me more than you know already. (Knitting his eye- 
brows) I don't seem to have been of much help to him. 



158 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Shotton {quickly) No one could expect to be under 
the circumstances. 

Brenner {cracking his knuckles) I don't know! I 
don't know! I am not convinced that he would have 
gotten so desperate as to resign if we had made it our 
business to know about Sidonie. {Hastening to make 
amends for his tone) I am not criticizing, understand! 
But after Rosenthal's disgusting actions, we should have 
made it impossible for anybody to look in the direction 
of these Christian Scientists! 

Dr. Kantor {adopting the professional tone) Gentle- 
men, if you will remember that Dr. Joseffy is meeting an 
abnormal situation in an abnormal way, you will be pre- 
pared for anything today, and will act accordingly. 

Wallach {blandly) I've got a woman in my store 
whose specialty is treating the nerves of the girls. I 
don't know what she says to them or what she does. It's 
supposed to improve business. I haven't got any nerves 
myself, but that's no reason why others aren't entitled to 
them. Between you and me, with hysterical people you're 
beaten before you start, and I'd be the last one to take 
chances opposing a girl like Sidonie. Looks to me as if 
this had more angles to it than some of my veteran sales- 
ladies. 

Shotton {critically) I don't feel quite the way you do 
about Sidonie, Wallach. 

Dr. Kantor. That's right. Sidonie is an unusual in- 
dividual, and you can't prescribe ordinary standards of 
judgment in her case. 

Brenner. But that's just the trouble! What she does 
influences others. Now they've started talking, God 
knows when they'll finish! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 159 

Dr. Kantor (to Laempfert) Charles, what has been 
the effect of Joseffy's resignation on her? 

Laempfert. I don't think she has heard of it yet. 
(There is a general stir of surprise). No one in the 
house told her, and she hasn't been out except to go driv- 
ing with her mother. (With a slight shrug of the shoul- 
ders) I don't say she shouldn't be told. (He returns 
to his papers ) . 

Shotton. Pretty bad! 

Wallach. I'm sorry for Dr. Joseffy. 

Brenner. I say with all my heart: damn that man 
Rosenthal! We've been too easy with him. His leaving 
Pittsburgh comes a little too late to suit me ! 

Dr. Kantor. You're only wasting your breath, Bren- 
ner. We'd never beat him at this game. All he has to 
do is to fold his two hands and look pious — and we can't 
look pious. 

Shotton. Yes, he's been playing the sort of Christian 
that children read about in their Sunday School books 
and don't believe in. 

Dr. Kantor. A newly converted Jew is likely to do it 
better than the man who traces his Christianity back to 
the Spanish inquisition. 

Brenner (violently) It shows that the synagogue is 
helpless when attacked by renegades! I tell you, if I had 
my way — 

Laempfert (interposing) We'll have our way, Bren- 
ner. No great harm has yet been done. I feel that with 
the particularly favorable conditions with which we have 
surrounded this visit, matters will adjust themselves. 

Brenner (querulously) If we win out, all right; it 
will mean we're doing something. Let me tell you, I 



160 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

for one am tired of institutions that just let off steam to 
show people they're there! What's more, I say: Gentle- 
men, watch our women folks! They're like sheep. Every 
girl is standing with her mouth open (suiting the action 
to the word) trying to understand why Sidonie should be 
paying attention to Christian Science. 

Dr. Kantor (putting out an argumentative finger) 
Mark my word! — Sooner or later physicians are going 
to get together to take steps against Christian Science 
propaganda! Then watch the fur fly! We'll demand 
positive proof of cures. We'll lock up every healer under 
whose hands a case dies. We'll make their preposterous 
claims so unpopular, that there won't be a lot of Rosen- 
thals flocking to their defence. 

Wallach (grinning at Shotton) The legal profession 
will defend anything. 

Shotton (unbending somewhat) Otherwise, how could 
you folks sleep safely at night? 

Wallach (enjoying the retort hugely) You go to the 
head of the class! 

Dr. Kantor. I'm serious, gentlemen! The medical 
profession's indifference is going to prove a boomerang. 
We ought to insist that every case of cancer these people 
claim to cure, every broken bone that knits correctly with- 
out being set, every insane individual who has been 
made sane by "treatment", be backed up by affidavits 
and sworn statements and photographs. No testimonials 
written from the ends of the earth by neurotic women 
with an itch to get imaginary ailments into print. If 
Mrs. Jones of Timbuctoo claims to have dissipated a car- 
cinoma with prayer, proof or jail! 

Shotton (with a wave of the hand) And make martyrs 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 161 

out of them! They have the money and the backing to 
carry any fight to the highest tribunals of the land. 
Antagonism is fruitful soil for all propaganda. Look 
what it did to Rosenthal, the last man in the world to have 
succumbed! The only method of fighting them is through 
medical education. 

Wallach. Kantor should worry! There will always 
be plain people with plain aches who will be cured by 
getting a Latin prescription filled at the corner drug- 
store. Shotton, what would you do if the "absent treat- 
ment" crowd wanted to get rid of the legal profession, 
and settled everything by prayer? Rosenthal must be- 
lieve that, or he wouldn't be giving up his practice. 

Shotton. The moment they start settling property 
disputes by prayer, you can say good bye to our whole 
civilization, and there won't be any use worrying about 
anything. 

Dr. Kantor. You know, I've given a lot of thought to 
Rosenthal. He's a puzzle to me. Digestion all right, 
never missed a meal in his life, strong as an ox, a stickler 
for logic — and now he's ready to cure baldness with 
prayer and raise the dead. 

Wallach. Hard on Dr. Joseffy to have Sidonie get- 
ting absent treatment by phone from that lady healer, 
although it was considerate of her not to bring her here. 

Brenner (angrily) How do we know that this second 
recovery of hers isn't just an accident, and that sheTl 
never really get much better? 

Laempfert (warningly) Sh! (As silence follows 
this) I would advise you to be very careful about men- 
tioning either Sidonie's or Rosenthal's name when Dr. 
Joseffy is present. We will do better to stick to the point. 



162 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sympathy will mean a great deal to him, but it must not 
degenerate into fault-finding. 

Brenner. I say again, suppose he doesn't give in? 
The fact that he is not a well-to-do man won't influence 
him. You know he couldn't make much of a living if he 
tried to teach. He wouldn't have much heart for lectur- 
ing on religious subjects of a general kind. 

Dr. Kantor. Still, some rabbis travel around the 
country talking to "goyem" about the Jewish problem 
or civic reform, and get well paid for their oratory. 

Brenner. If he leaves the pulpit, the Christian Scien- 
tists will think they put it over on us! 

Laempfert. We must show no hesitation or doubt 
when we talk to him. (As if delivering part of a pre- 
pared speech ) It is his duty to stand by the community 
in this hour of general disquiet. We have come here for 
impersonal rather than for personal reasons. The future 
of the people he has gathered about him is at stake. 

Brenner. All right. You talk along those lines, and 
we'll follow suit. 

Laempfert. When I call on you individually, don't 
go into details. We must avoid making the wrong kind of 
an impression. 

Wallach [half aloud) I had something written down. 

{As he fumbles in his pockets, the door to the 

rear opens, and Dr. Joseffy comes in. He is, of 

course, conscious of their errand, and without 

speaking, turns to shut the door. 

(When he faces them, it is evident that Dr. 
Kantor was correct in calling him a sick man. 
He is haggard, his features are drawn in pain, his 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 163 

eyebrows are unnaturally contracted, in moments 
of excitement he trembles, and when he speaks, 
he has difficulty with his voice. 

{His visitors have risen, Laempfert getting to his 
feet with deliberate slowness. All through the 
scene that follows, the banker acts with the posi- 
tiveness he has demanded of the others). 
Joseffy (as he shakes hands with them, one after an- 
other, beginning with Shotton) Albert, how are you, my 
boy? (To Brenner) Leopold, I'm glad to see you. 
Stanley — (to Kantor) ; Joseph — (to Wallach) ; Charles 
(to Laempfert. To all — gravely) I expected you, even 
before Charles called me up. 

Wallach. We wouldn't be denied, as they say! 
Joseffy (groping for the right answer, and failing to 
find it) Yes? 

(He goes behind the table, and sinks down 
heavily. Only by an effort at the beginning does 
he keep his attention on his visitors. 

(Laempfert moves to a position before the fire- 
place, where he towers above the others, who have 
resumed their seats uneasily. The banker is con- 
fident and rarely at a loss for a word. He speaks 
with impressive dignity). 
Laempfert (looking straight ahead, away from Josef- 
fy) I am going to begin by saying that this is a time 
when we must find a way to unity. If we don't, we will 
pay an increasingly heavy price. The Jew is getting 
indifferent in religious matters. So he becomes a prey 
for the anti-Semite. Israel must organize for common 
defence. When I say that, I am no believer in becoming 



164 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

sentimental over some out of the way place in the Orient 
and calling it the Jewish homeland. We'll be at home 
wherever we please! And we will fight for our rights 
wherever we are! If this is a world of claw and tooth, 
at least we will know how to use them! 

Brenner. That's right! 

Laempfert. I say all this, Dr. Joseffy, because we 
think that you, of all men in America, thoroughly under- 
stand the Jew and his problems. All we now ask is that 
you hear us through. 

Joseffy. Charles, I am too much in debt to all of 
you — (He finds it hard to continue) . 

Laempfert. We are counting on our mutual indebt- 
edness. (His voice grows more strident) We are here 
to tell you that we find it impossible to accept your 
resignation. Mind you, we make no plea for ourselves; 
we would sacrifice our inclinations and our feelings if 
your peace of mind demanded it. (He pauses). 

Joseffy (with an effort) Yes, yes, I know. 

Laempfert. I do not exaggerate our feelings when I 
say that we are greatly worried. The moral integrity 
of our community i9 involved. Not because of any sin- 
gle individual's doing! It would be superficial to think 
that. Sooner or later a new attack was bound to be 
launched against us from some quarter. The result is, 
we are confronted with the most damnable underground 
menace in our experience. Someone here a little while 
ago spoke of the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition 
was nothing compared to it — we could always stand per- 
secution and torture without losing our identity. This 
is a danger of a peculiar kind. Only the American Jew 
can understand it. Our people in Europe could never 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 165 

conceive how serious this is, for they would not under- 
stand how we could be misled by the intentions of any 
kind of Christianity. This new threat is not local to 
Pittsburgh only. It is national. Worst of all, it is baited 
with the pretence that its propaganda is not anti-Semitic. 

Dr. Kantor (solemnly) You've hit the nail on the 
head! 

Laempfert. As it is, I haven't begun to do justice 
to the gravity of the situation. But I hope that I have 
intimated how we look upon it, and why we have come 
to ask you to withdraw your resignation. We do not 
know one person who sums up as you do all the qualifi- 
cations necessary to take the matter properly in hand. 
None of the other ministers would understand it as you 
do. Under the circumstances your resignation would de- 
prive Israel in America of vital help at a serious time. 

(He ceases, and faces Joseffy for an answer. 
Joseffy begins in an uncertain voice, and as he 
talks, he clasps and unclasps his hands). 

Joseffy. It is hard for me to tell you what is on my 
mind. I have been in great distress. There are times 
when I cannot believe that this happened in my own 
household. (He struggles to compose himself). I am 
not resigning because I fear that the synagogue will get 
entangled in my troubles. I have too much faith in your 
collective strength for that. I resigned because I want 
to go away for a long time with Sidonie. I want to save 
her from this nightmare that she calls a religion. It is 
impossible for me to think of her and think of my work. 
My friends, I've got to help her. 

Laempfert. Very well, then: take a leave of absence. 

Joseffy. At the same time that I set out to do what 



166 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

I can for Sidonie, I must get my own religious life 
straightened out. I have failed — no doubt about it! 
I could never have failed if my religion had meant for 
me what it should. The question is not one of occupying 
a pulpit or answering to a certain formula of service in 
that pulpit. This goes deeper. It touches the very depths 
of belief. If I had been as one with God, this could never 
have happened. Now, together with Sidonie, I must find 
out what is the matter. 

Laempfert. Will any man who would take your 
place have a better answer? Could he go any deeper, 
or be more honest? Would he know how to deal with 
the inroads which Christian Science is making in our 
homes? Now that we have taken the trouble to look, 
we have found its literature where it should never have 
appeared! 

Joseffy {starting up in alarm) Where? 

Laempfert. What does it matter where? Specific 
cases, mean less than the fact itself. If you stay, we have 
an even chance for success to combat that. If you go 
away, that very step will heighten the interest in Christian 
Science. 

Joseffy (as if it were irrevocable) Sidonie is my 
test, Charles, as to whether my Judaism is sound, and 
whether I can minister to any community. Meanwhile, 
she, too, is striving to get the truth for herself. If I can 
turn the tide for her against this creed, it will set me right 
at the same time. It cannot be done in a week, or a 
month, perhaps not even in a year. It can't be done by 
forcing the issue. See how she collapsed under the 
strain. My friends, I feel at this hour that the synagogue 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 167 

itself tells me to make this choice, to put myself on trial, 
without which I would be but as a hollow vessel. 

Laempfert {beginning to grow impatient) Are you 
not creating a purely hypothetical difficulty? The syna- 
gogue chooses its leaders for the immediate service they 
can give. It does not expect them to answer every ques- 
tion, but to seek the truth within its walls. If after you 
go away, you come back dissatisfied, to find that we have 
drifted on the rocks, will you be sure that you could not 
have come to our aid? You are ready for the battle 
against Christian Science at this very moment! It is the 
need of the hour! I have talked with people from New 
York, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco — everywhere it 
is the same story! The Jew is becoming an appreciable 
element in the Christian Science Church. Jews are re- 
nouncing Judaism — not the atheistic newcomers from 
Eastern Europe, but conservative Jews, with money, re- 
spectability, good connections. They are not ashamed 
of it. Worse than that, their Jewish friends explain it 
away without showing any ill-feeling. That can't go on ! 

Joseffy {throwing out his hands convulsively) Am I 
the proper person to create sentiment for a sounder Juda- 
ism when I have been unable to keep my own household 
together? 

{The protest is immediate and general, and ex- 
cept for Laempfert all speak at once). 

Dr. Kantor. You couldn't possibly help it! It might 
have happened to any of us! — 

Shotton. No man could have foreseen such a hap- 
pening, Dr. Joseffy! — 

Wallach. You're not fair to yourself! Imagine a 
girl like Sidonie listening to that stuff! — 



168 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Brenner. We haven't had any idea like that! What 
a woman does is beyond any of us! — 

Laempfert {cutting sharply across the din) Just a 
moment! (The others are silenced). If it can make this 
headway in your household, how soon before it will begin 
to break up our own? You may as well say that Israel 
should give up all religious effort until it settles this. 
No! It will pray and work! By remaining, you not only 
meet the issue locally, but your voice will reach into the 
four corners of the country. (Turning to the others) Is 
it not so? 

(There is an expectant stir). 

Sj-iotton. Dr. JosefTy, if we don't rally our forces 
today, to-morrow there may not be enough of practical 
Judaism left worth saving. 

Brenner (in his nervousness having difficulty with his 
words) I say that, too! Let us be warned by Rosenthal! 
Much more of that sort of thing, and Judaism is dis- 
credited among our own people! 

Wallach. I'm ready to give every dollar I can spare. 
I've given money for all sorts of reforms in this city. 
Now I'm ready to give it for something really necessary. 

Dr. Kantor. Dr. Joseffy, I am approaching this from 
the physician's point of view, who sees a superstition get- 
ting its grip on increasing numbers of people. It works 
on their weakness and their credulity. It plays on their 
fears while taking advantage of their helplessness. Now, 
I ask you, what is to become of real science if fakirs are 
allowed to go unchallenged who make the claims that 
these people do? What possible respect will our people 
have for learning if scientific knowledge, fought for and 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 169 

established after a hundred years of research, is to be 
belittled? The attack will next come on education. They 
will want to influence the work of the schools. They will 
criticise it as being too material. We shall suddenly find 
the road to progress blocked. The time to rouse the 
people is now! — before these upstarts become too power- 
ful! 

Shotton. Exactly! As soon as they feel their 
strength, they will ride rough-shod over us! 

Dr. Kantor. It's a serious business! The ages dur- 
ing which we have been struggling to get control over 
material resources are very much of a joke to that tribe 
— we're to throw away the lever with which we are mov- 
ing nature! 

Shotton (taking a step forward as Kantor finishes) 
Dr. Joseffy, speaking for the Jewish members of the bar 
in this city — and I know their opinion — I can say that 
they would consider it subversive to the moral purpose of 
this community if they could not make a concerted effort 
through you to stamp out this proselytism. Eddyism, 
logically followed out, would practically destroy the use- 
fulness and influence of the court of law, since it denies 
the validity of legal reasoning by denying that any real 
difference of opinion can exist in matters of justice. Ulti- 
mately it will destroy that respect for property which is 
the basis of life in this world. Our civilization may be- 
come a drifting derelict. 

Dr. Kantor. Then consider the gross, sensual, ma- 
terial reaction that will follow after people have been dis- 
illusioned about the vacuum they have created! 

Wallach. I hear they charge pretty stiff prices for 
healing, so it don't look like a vacuum for somebody. 



170 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Brenner. No objection as long as they practice that 
on their Christian neighbors! We've tolerated them too 
long. {Indignantly) We let men like that real estate 
sharp Perkins, the husband of the healer Sidonie is going 
to, get money from our banks for speculation! I tell 
you — 

Laempfert {breaking in) Ephraim, this is a call to 
arms! The American Jew must be held to a strict ac- 
counting of his Judaism. Who is to hold him to it? 

Joseffy {since they expect an answer) My friends, 
you can understand how it has bewildered me to think of 
separating myself from you. At my age, decisions like 
these are not easily made. And to you who have been 
brothers-in-arms, I can only show wounds that are not 
glorious, and that reflect little credit on one who should 
try to inspire you. 

{His evident suffering leaves all except Laemp- 
fert ill-at-ease) . 

Laempfert {forcibly) Perhaps we have not shown 
sufficient solidarity behind you! We may not have given 
our complete devotion to what you stand for! So while 
considering ways and means by which you can combat 
this insidious doctrine, we have debated how to make our 
relationship more effective. As a result, we are planning 
to secure for you a committee of representative American 
Jews for anti-Christian Science work. They will make it 
possible for you to command pulpits and platforms. We 
further intend in conjunction with such activities that 
you have the services of a lecture bureau. It will not be 
difficult to get the widest co-operation. As a token of our 
earnestness in the matter, I am empowered to present to 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 171 

you a check for fifteen thousand dollars, in the name of 
the Board of Trustees, to be devoted to this work. 

(So saying, he reaches into his pocket and lays 
a check on the table before Joseffy. The latter is 
taken aback, and as he stands silently regarding 
the check, is helplessly buffeted between gratitude 
for their faith in him and despair at this new ob- 
stacle thrust into his path). 

Brenner (exulting) We don't do things by halves! 

Wallach. Even at that, it is only a beginning! 

Dr. Kantor. The Scientists would sneer at this check 
as too material to counteract their sublime nonsense. 
They don't know the determination that is back of it! 
They forget that we are a religious people who were 
monotheists when their ancestors were idol-worshipping 
savages in the wilds of Europe. 

Laempfert (who has been watching Joseffy) We shall 
not stop this campaign until victory is a fact! 

Joseffy. Charles, how can I meet the spirit in which 
you have come? If I say Yes, what sure ground is there 
under my feet to lead Sidonie anywhere? Oh, I must 
shut out everything else for the time being except her 
need! My friends, she is worth it! If you could see with 
me how she drifts further away from us day by day, 
you would insist that I fight with every ounce of strength 
to hold her to Judaism! No, I must return to my own 
problem. 

(A silence of dismay follows. Laempfert turns 
away abruptly to conceal his chagrin at the de- 
feat) . 

Brenner (putting out his two long arms, and speaking 



172 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

in a breaking voice) Doctor, what are we going to tell 
our women? You know them! The children, too — we 
are losing our hold on them. If we could say that you 
were taking a leave of absence — 

Joseffy (finally, to save the situation) Leopold, it has 
been a growing conviction with me that God, in His in- 
scrutable way, has put this burden on Sidonie that many 
of us may find ourselves through it. Be patient with me, 
my friends. 

Wallach. Yes, I've had the feeling that this is a 
sort of trial for Israel. 

Brenner. A trial for us, yes, but how are we going to 
take care of it? 

Joseffy. Leopold, do not be harsh in your judgment, 
as I am not harsh with Sidonie. Meanwhile, close up 
your ranks ! You have strength. You may be a handful 
in their midst, but you are, after all, of the Chosen 
People! Our spiritual domains are unconquerable! 
Charles, (he extends the check) this you can still use 
effectively ! 

Laempfert (taking the check with signal reluctance) 
Ephraim, we are not leaving with the idea that our pur- 
pose is not going to be fulfilled. We are not ready to 
entrust your work to less inspired hands. We have made 
no preparations for that, and we can't see that far. 

(He still expects some last moment concession. 
Joseffy, unable to proceed further, can only pass 
a trembling hand along the edge of the table be- 
fore him. Dr. Kantor interposes) . 

Dr. Kantor (abruptly, with authority) We are going 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 173 

to leave you alone. You should be in bed. If you don't 
mind, I will call back later. You need attention. 

Wallach. That's right! {He comes forward and ex- 
tends his hand to Joseffy) Thanks for the chance to come 
and talk things over. I'll give orders to let my Jewish 
help off for Saturday morning services if they want to 
go. We'll start some real Judaism in this town. (Joseffy 
feebly responds to his handshake). 

Shotton (in turn) You can count on me to do every- 
thing in my power. I am still hopeful that there will be 
a way out. 

Brenner (in his turn) Our women go to the synagogue 
every once in a while. But what is the good? It's only 
a habit with them, something to atone for their extrava- 
gence and amusements. We need you! That's all I can 
say. 

(Joseffy sits down without making an effort to 
reply, and helplessly watches the committee file 
out. Laempfert, however, after stopping at the 
door to speak to Dr. Kantor, returns. The others 
take it for granted that it is his place to remain). 

Laempfert (when Joseffy and he are alone) Just a 
word before I go, Ephraim. I have been thinking that 
if Sidonie realizes the extent of the step you have taken, 
it may have the opposite effect of what you intend. You 
cannot risk exciting her. In my opinion it would be wiser 
if you went along as if nothing was the matter. Is it 
not possible to arrange this differently? 

Joseffy (plunged into the very depths of despair) 
No, not even if she takes my resignation as some sort of a 
Christian Science demonstration. We are dealing with a 



174 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

child who has the fixed idea that the Messianic age is here, 
the millenial period when the most extravagant action 
is quite right. How much there is to be done! 

Laempfert. Can you risk deepening that impression 
by separating yourself from your people? Will you let 
the idea get abroad that the Christian Scientists have been 
successful in driving you out of the synagogue? 

Joseffy {looking dully at him) It is strange that you 
should find this sort of argument, Charles. 

Laempfert. Any argument that will make you see all 
sides of the question! I cannot help telling you before 
I go, that all this is a terrible blow to me. 

Joseffy (somewhat rousing himself) It is an extreme 
step, but it is no caprice. Sidonie's stock of health is a 
very insecure thing, Charles — a mere thread. The hold 
she has on life is just nervous energy, nothing more. 
That is the constant spectre. For one thing, I mean to 
take her to Europe to see the specialists there. 

Laempfert (to whom this is news) Oh! (After a 
pause) Suppose she refuses to go? 

Joseffy. I am counting on her making that conces- 
sion. 

Laempfert (shaking his head at Joseffy's floundering 
efforts) If she considers it too big a concession to make, 
you are left empty-handed. (Summoning courage for a 
rebuke) Ephraim, you should have told her you were 
going to resign before you did it. 

Joseffy (uncertain) I no longer believe that ordinary 
ways will do. I have to act intuitively. I know: you 
think I am irrational. But there are times, Charles, when 
to do the melodramatic may achieve more than cool cal- 
culation. At any rate, I simply can't calculate now. It 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 175 

was all I could do to keep from going to pieces before 
you all here. I am trusting to the goodness of God to 
find my way. I can't do any more. (He shuts his eyes 
in utter weariness, then gets back into the seat behind the 
table) . 

Laempfert (hastily) You've got to pull yourself to- 
gether. 

Joseffy (as if he had not heard him) It will all be 
clear to you later. Then the resignation will not seem so 
startling. After all, Pittsburgh is a strong Jewish city. 
Its Jewishness is not all of my making. 

Laempfert (speaking as he walks about, while seek- 
ing for another approach to the vexed question upper- 
most in his thoughts) I don't know how strong we are. 
I have a lot of doubts that I didn't have before. A city 
like New York with nearly a million Jews is less Jewish 
than when it had a quarter of that number. The Jew 
apes the Christian. He is indifferent about attending 
services because his absence from the synagogue creates 
no comment. Here is Rosenthal leaving Pittsburgh, and 
instead of everyone looking forward to it with relief, they 
are praising his legal ability, they talk about his being 
a kindly character, remember virtues that just happen to 
be peculiarities — and Christian Science gets the adver- 
tising. I tell you, it makes backsliding respectable! It 
furnishes an easy way out of Judaism for those who 
would otherwise not find the courage to go over to Chris- 
tianity. I was hoping that when we were rid of Rosen- 
thal, your path would be easier here. 

Joseffy (unmoved by the suggestion) He has been a 
divine instrument to chastise us, Charles. 

Laempfert (vigorously) I don't know what the Lord 



176 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

meant by Rosenthal, and I am not going to be lenient to 
that renegade on the chance that the intention was good. 
The Christian idea of charity may be all right for the 
failures — they're the sort that started the religion, I sup- 
pose. You don't find much of that weak-kneed feeling 
in modern Christianity, with its strong, successful, level- 
headed men. I've heard them talk, and I've seen them 
at work. When they go in for charity and call them- 
selves philanthropists, it's usually with their tongues in 
their cheeks. They're more natural when they use their 
fists. They run the churches, and if their churches don't 
behave, they hit out! I tell you, Ephraim, the Jew can 
learn with profit how Christianity has made its way. 
We've got to show our strength! 

Joseffy (almost mechanically) Ours is an especial 
strength. (Suddenly conscious that Laempfert is study- 
ing him) What else makes it possible for me every morn- 
ing after a sleepless night to go about my work as a ser- 
vant of God? 

Laempfert. Ephraim, if you had believed in the 
gospel of strength, you would, for instance, have known 
how to use a man like Pollitz. (As Joseffy seems un- 
equal to the sudden turn of the conversation) I doubt if 
he spends any feverish nights, except to consider how to 
conciliate the Louisville people about Sidonie. 

Joseffy (tremulously) Surely he hasn't been talking! 

Laempfert. No. Just the opposite. People are only 
given the chance to comment on the fact that he is rather 
silent. Has he been with you any amount of time re- 
cently? 

Joseffy (as if he would rather not think about it) 
He has been very busy going to and from Louisville. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 177 

{Breaking down) Charles, I can't make out his attitude 
towards Sidonie. No two normal people in love would 
act like that. It's too impersonal. 

Laempfert. Perhaps they never have been much 
different, except that you haven't had occasion to notice 
it. (Joseffy looks at him wonderingly) . Have you taken 
him into your confidence lately? — about your resigna- 
tion, for instance? 

Joseffy {relieved to be able to say something with 
positiveness) I have only been waiting for him to come 
back from Louisville. He saved me the trouble of call- 
ing him up this morning by calling me up. He is to come 
in about noon. Our brief talk over the telephone sounded 
very formal. 

Laempfert {looking at his watch) I'd like to wait for 
him, but I can't. It ought to be gratifying to you to know 
that a number of his trustees are on your side. {He is 
ready to go, but stops at the door for a final word) . I 
have had the thought, Ephraim, that we might call a full 
meeting of our Board and have Sidonie appear before it. 

Joseffy {frightened) No! No! That's impossible! 
We daren't revive any trial by a Sanhedrim! It's out of 
time, out of place! It would have an effect opposite to 
what you calculated. 

Laempfert. Oh, I didn't mean anything like a trial. 
It was to put before her, with all the solemnity of which 
we are capable, the seriousness of her change of belief, 
even to the extent, perhaps, of having some out-of-town 
ministers present whom you might select. 

Joseffy. Charles, don't think that I haven't even con- 
sidered that. But I saw that Sidonie's brief experience 
with Christian Science had armed her with certain argu- 



178 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

ments. It would be merelv a repetition of the scene at 
Sydney Rosenthal's. 

Laempfert. Yes, and I suppose some of the men 
would lose their tempers. No, there is no use fighting 
fanaticism with reason. You see now why I am opposed 
to your doing anything that is not dictated by cold logic. 
{Pleading) Ephraim, I wish you would give thought to 
our plan of combating Christian Science with this weapon 
we have put into your hands! These fifteen thousand 
dollars can be made a hundred thousand. It would be a 
fitting climax to your twenty-five years of work. I tell 
you, if my business were in shape, I'd give up my work 
and do this myself, handicapped as I am by lack of plat- 
form experience! If ever there was a call from above, it 
is this! 

Joseffy. If you feel that way, why cannot you see 
that Sidonie has been given me for some equally impor- 
tant purpose? 

(Laempfert is about to go out, but comes back 
and hold out his hand, which Joseffy takes). 
Laempfert. Try to rest up. We can't have you go 
into the Holy Days feeling as you do. 

Joseffy (touched by his solicitude) After all, there 
must be some turn for the better soon ! 

Laempfert. Undoubtedly. Why not look upon our 
coming in that light? 

(He has let his left hand rest on the table, and 
when he removes it, the check remains. He goes 
out quickly. 

(Joseffy sits gazing blankly before him. He 
does not turn when Mrs. Joseffy comes in. She 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 179 

acts very much like a nurse in a sickroom, even 
with the tendency to tiptoe, and speaks in a low- 
ered voice) . 

Mrs. Joseffy (tremulously) Charles said something 
about your getting a good rest. Please do, Ephraim! 

Joseffy. In good time. There is a great deal to be 
attended to. [He notices the check, and is surprised to 
see it. As he picks it up) He couldn't have forgotten 
it! 

Mrs. Joseffy (coming to his side and looking at the 
check) What is that for? (Anxiously) Then they have 
accepted your resignation! 

Joseffy. No. They want me to take the platform 
against Christian Science, and that is to defray the ex- 
penses. 

Mrs. Joseffy (sharply) Ephraim, don't think of any- 
thing now except your health! Everyone is ready to ask 
you to do things for them. There are always more duties 
— even though you are not a young man. 

Joseffy. There is much to be done. 

Mrs. Joseffy (wincing) You mean for Sidonie. But 
neither of you is strong enough to go on like this. 

Joseffy. It would be an indignity to leave essential 
things undone for her. If we mean to disregard her, it 
would be a pretty late time to reshape our purpose in 
life. Yet these men really came to ask just that, and 
they seemed to think they had a right to ask it. As far 
as Sidonie was concerned, they were indifferent. 

Mrs. Joseffy (hastily) I don't think they meant that. 
(She puts the chairs in order) . She was so much stronger 
today that she went out — of her own accord. 



180 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Joseffy. Alone? 

Mrs. Joseffy. She got a taxicab. She said the sun- 
shine would do her good. I — I think she is all right 
going about that way. She wouldn't hear of my going 
with her. 

Joseffy {tense with anxiety) Suppose something 
should happen to her! 

Mrs. Joseffy {belying her fears) She is in a city 
where so many know her. 

Joseffy {trying to speak composedly) Not that I am 
not grateful for the effort she is making — if she didn't 
look over the head of our gratitude. 

{Mrs. Joseffy stops in front of him). 

Mrs. Joseffy. Do you remember, Ephraim, the battle 
you fought with yourself years ago as to whether you 
would go to orthodoxy or stay with reform? 

Joseffy. But that was all for Judaism! I never de- 
bated with myself as to whether I would throw Judaism 
overboard. 

Mrs. Joseffy {without spirit) If one is to keep strug- 
gling with one's self, what difference does it make what 
it's about? 

Joseffy. Her contradictions will be answered. They 
must be answered! 

Mrs. Joseffy. Can't we stop thinking of that, 
Ephraim? Let's just feel that Sidonie isn't a matter of 
religion. 

Joseffy {suspiciously) Has she been telling you that 
there is nothing the matter with your heart? 

Mrs. Joseffy {with a gasp) I have too much to 
think of — with the two of you — to bother about myself. 
Please, Ephraim, don't let your mind jump about like 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 181 

that! It frightens me. (At a venture) I do hope that 
William won't think that we're acting strangely. 

Joseffy (explosively) Damn William Pollitz! I am 
sick of his thick-skinned manner! He is just sauntering 
through this like a spectator! 

Mrs. Joseffy. He is waiting, Ephraim, — like all of 
us. I think he has been very considerate. 

Joseffy. If you mean that's why he has been keeping 
away as much as possible — well, this can't go on. He 
is coming in shortly. So much the better ! 

Mrs. Joseffy. What do you mean when you say it 
that way? Of course he's going to come in! 

Joseffy. I've got to see him, to explain my plans 
about this girl whom he ought to marry at once, if he 
weren't a dodger! There! You've heard the word! 
Not that I want him to marry her right away. I'll tell 
him that I intend to take Sidonie to Europe — and so on. 
(He passes his hand over his forehead). We'll know 
where we stand. 

Mrs. Joseffy (desperately) You make a great mis- 
take. You are hurrying things. 

Joseffy. There are some kinds of silence that are 
like thunder. His is a glaring insult. Why has he said 
nothing to me about my resignation? Because he is 
watching to see the result! I don't want his comradeship; 
but I do want the honesty essential to a co-worker. We 
either are or are not leaders who shape opinion. He — is 
acting like a petty politician ! 

Mrs. Joseffy (now thoroughly apprehensive) You 
must get a hold on yourself! People must not see you 
giving away! I hope you were feeling all right when 
Leopold Brenner and the rest of them were here. 



182 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Joseffy {with the vanishing stornis final growl of 
thunder) It can't last forever, thank God! — or I should 
utterly break to pieces. 

Mrs. Joseffy. I know. 

Joseffy {penitent) I am sorry, Rose, to give you the 
idea that I am almost irresponsible. 

Mrs. Joseffy. If only you will remember that each 
one of us has his own ideas about what has happened. 

{Joseffy is about to flare up again. Instead he 
goes to the other extreme). 

Joseffy. You have been a great help. One at least 
does not have to speculate about you. 

Mrs. Joseffy {with a ghost of a smile) You ought to 
be very patient, then, with what I am going to ask of 
you. [Speaking seriously) Remember that William has 
as much right to his worries as you have to yours. You 
are not to put all sorts of ideas into his head. He may 
not be thinking anything strange. {Standing very erect, 
and speaking forcibly) Ephraim, you don't understand 
him any more than you understand Sidonie! 

Joseffy {perturbed) You are excited! You know 
what that means to your heart! {He tries to take her 
hands, but she puts them behind her) . 

Mrs. Joseffy. The way to take care of my heart is 
by using your head a great deal more than you have. 
How can it help you to keep turning things over and over 
— just like a street organ! 

Joseffy. I didn't think you could be so hard. 

Mrs. Joseffy. You don't have faith, and I do. You 
should be going right on with your work, as if nothing 
had happened. William won't disappoint you. He cares 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 183 

about her, and being so different from her, he will make 
her happy. None of the other young men could get ac- 
customed to the fact that she was in bad health. Albert 
Shotton, and the rest of them, — you know they only pitied 
her. William always had some hope that she would get 
better. To him she was a remarkable girl. What you 
call his "salesman's jokes" and "circus stunts" helped her 
to forget herself. You ought to leave them alone. Maybe 
he hasn't been so friendly towards you; young rabbis are 
a little envious. Now that he has a big congregation of 
his own, you watch what a changed man he will become! 
Joseffy. Perhaps in a different sense from what you 
think. He is ridden by ambition as by a nightmare. 
However, if he is honest in his thoughts about Sidonie, 
there is no chance of conflict between himself and me. 

{The electric bell of the outside door ivhirs 
faintly) . 
Mrs. Joseffy. Remember, if that's him, you're taking 
care of Sidonie's interests! You're on her side to him! 
(As he is silent) And you mustn't discuss her as if she 
weren't a Jewess. (A little wildly) Ephraim, if we don't 
take care, we may lose both William and her! 
(There is a knock on the door). 
Joseffy. He is in a position to decide for us. 

(Without replying, Mrs. Joseffy opens the door 
into the hall. Pollitz stands there, looking un- 
easy) . 
Pollitz. How are you? 

Mrs. Joseffy (with a gayety ivhich makes her husband 
stare) Hello, William! Come in! We were just talking 
about you. We were sure that knock was yours. 



184 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Pollitz. Ah, yes. (Irrelevantly) I don't seem to get 
a moment for myself. 

Mrs. Joseffy. You're not accustomed to much fuss. 
Bye and bye, Louisville will be an old story. 

Pollitz [forcing a smile) I have found it very ex- 
citing. I thought it would be very simple; but packing 
books and running over to Louisville — it disorganizes 
one. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Don't let them spoil you over there, 
William. 

Pollitz. You have alwayc considered me worth 
spoiling. 

Mrs. Joseffy (hovering about him) Do sit down! 
Sidonie ought to be back any moment. 

Pollitz. She has gone out? 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes. It's wonderful, isn't it? Thank 
God! And with such assurance! 

Pollitz (forcing his interest) She shouldn't get about 
without someone being with her. 

Mrs. Joseffy. But she does not want to be treated 
like an invalid. 

Joseffy (who has been walking about restlessly) Rose, 
William and I want to have a talk. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes! Yes! William, leave room in 
your trunk for some things I want to give you. 

Pollitz. I shall be grateful to you, whatever it is. 

Joseffy. See that we're not disturbed, Rose, — even 
if Sidonie comes back. 

Mrs. Joseffy (trying to speak lightly) All right. 
When you're through, William, come and talk to me. 
1 think you've forgotten how to gossip, you've been so 
busy. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 185 

(Her laugh, as she goes out, is a dismal fail- 
ure) . 

Pollitz (as though it had suddenly struck him) It is 
uncanny how well she has managed with the embarrass- 
ments that have arisen about her! No one could have 
been of greater help to Sidonie — just because she refused 
to take sides. 

(Joseffy regards him rather sharply. He waits 
for Pollitz to continue, but the latter looks as if 
he had thrown out a casual thought which does 
not need elaboration) . 

Joseffy (without cordiality) I don't think we have 
had a talk of any consequence since the day when I told 
you of Sidonie's interest in Christian Science. 

Pollitz (with equal lack of friendliness) I remember 
I was very urgent about going to Rosenthal. I could not 
have foreseen the consequences. 

Joseffy. My resignation, for instance? 

Pollitz. In that I am very much like Pittsburgh as a 
whole: I refuse to take the resignation as final. 

Joseffy. We ought to consider how that resignation 
will affect Sidonie and yourself. I can now tell you that 
I have severed my connections with my synagogue to 
devote myself to her — if that will not stand in the way 
of your plans. I would have consulted you if I had not 
felt that you would try to dissuade me not to resign. 
Some impressively important step had to be taken. You 
could not do so without a setback in your work. 

Pollitz (as Joseffy pauses) What is it you want to do 
for her that should require your resignation? 

Joseffy (brusquely) We will put the deeper import 



186 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

of it aside for the time being. First of all I will try to get 
her better medical attention than she has had. I will 
go to Europe for that purpose. That will also help to 
remove her from the baneful influence here. 

Pollitz. Have you discussed such a trip with her? 

Joseffy {impatiently) No. I have not even told her 
about my resignation. 

Pollitz (astonished) You haven't! You mean that 
you are willing to take the risk of her learning the fact 
from the first passer-by? 

Joseffy. I didn't expect that she would leave the 
house alone. In any event, in view of her present state 
of mind she is not likely to regard it with anxiety. 

Pollitz. I agree with you in that. She may give it 
no more serious consideration than your suggestion about 
taking her to Europe. 

Joseffy. The resignation won't appear quite so trif- 
ling. 

Pollitz. A leave of absence would have done just as 
well. 

Joseffy. No! An energetic step was necessary to 
dissipate the anarchy into which we were falling. If 
staying in the synagogue meant that she would drift out 
of our reach, then there was only one thing for me to do. 

Pollitz (less detached) Oh, undeniably Sidonie is 
worth making big sacrifices for! I have sought ways and 
means of untying the tangle myself, only to be baffled. 
For the time being all I can do is to wish you Godspeed! 

Joseffy. I realize that if I take Sidonie away for any 
length of time, it will, of course, leave your immediate 
plans about her very much at sea. 

Pollitz. Well, mv plans will depend entirely on 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 187 

,vhat Sidonie will decide when you talk matters over with 
her — and how you talk them over. She is still an in- 
valid. 

Joseffy. I will be cautious. I learned my lesson at 
my brother-in-law's. 

Pollitz. Since then he has, wittingly or unwittingly, 
strengthened his position with her. I think we are too 
late in whatever we do. Looking back, I would say now 
that we never had a chance. 

Joseffy. I have never had that feeling about her. I 
couldn't think of having it! 

Pollitz. While optimism is my natural tendency, I 
find it sagging when I see your resignation come on the 
heels of Sidonie's renewal of health through Christian 
Science. I can't figure out how you can hope to attain 
any sort of ascendency over a religion which has prcved 
its superiority to her. We are mocked by this mingling 
of virtue and necessity, of a nebulous God and desirable 
healing, yet you go right ahead. 

Joseffy. The real test has not been made. The cir- 
cumstances have not yet favored us. I will be in a better 
position now. 

Pollitz. Your new efforts will be negligible because 
she would have to translate them into the language of her 
religion before she could understand them. How will she 
look at them? The cold wind that blows from Mrs. 
Eddy's teaching is chilling all Sidonie's feeling for us. 
We are but a generalized part of divine Mind. If these 
people inherit the earth, we shall have saintliness with- 
out a pulse-beat. (As Joseffy turns away) You can't 
expect me to suppress my uneasiness about them. I'm 
not ashamed to say that I am afraid of them! My man- 



188 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

hood and my Judaism stagger back from this bottomless 
pit into which one is expected to throw one's individuality. 
I don't want to have anything to do with them if I can 
help it! 

Joseffy. Yet on the brink of this pit stands Sidonie! 

Pollitz. And we with her. Already you have been 
driven to the decision to give up your work. Two years 
ago you would have denounced such a step as a wrong to 
Judaism. What do I face? I am in the process of laying 
the foundations of a career. I want to counteract in the 
synagogue the influence of Mr. Worldly Man and Mrs. 
Fashionable Woman who stroll into it, spoiled by the 
newspapers reports of sermons by dilettante ministers. I 
shall strive to replace psuedo-Judaism with sound Juda- 
ism. And here I am put on the defensive, right from 
the start. {He spreads out his two hands, and talks 
shrilly) I can be plain with you. We are two men who 
ought to be able to face facts without cringing before 
them. How far has this influence already radiated out 
into our Jewish community? Where will it stop? Con- 
sider your own household. You not only have Sidonie's 
rejection of Jewish thought, but see how, to save the 
household from going to pieces, her mother has refused to 
take sides. That situation will occur in other households. 
Our religion, which has its roots in unity, cannot main- 
tain its healthy growth. It will begin to shrivel and to 
die. 

Joseffy (aroused by this repetition of a thought which 
Pollitz had already voiced) What are you talking about? 
You know perfectly well that Mrs. Joseify has avoided 
taking sides because she does not want to lessen her in- 
fluence over Sidonie! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 189 

t 

\ 

Pollitz. Neutrality? — it is meaningless. 

Joseffy (although his anger is weakened by the rea- 
sonableness of Pollitz *s contention) Please don't say 
such things — neither to me nor to anyone else. You 
and I have striven to get along. But when you charge 
something akin to lack of loyalty, that in the end means 
connivance at wrong — ! 

Pollitz. Hold on! You don't know what you are 
talking about! I am the son of a woman who knew star- 
vation that her son might have opportunity, and I am not 
likely to say mean things about a mother like Mrs. Josef- 
fy! It's not reflecting on her splendid character to say 
that in her despair of Sidonie's condition she may have 
made the sacrifice of shutting her eyes. 

Joseffy (violently) To me that is the same as saying 
that she abetted what Sidonie did — she who has been 
such a force for good among my people! 

Pollitz. You can pay no higher tribute than I to her 
service as a rabbi's wife! I don't think any Jewish com- 
munity is what it should be if its minister and his wife 
do not act together to make their spiritual impress on it. 

Joseffy (bravely accepting that feature of the issue) 
Sidonie shall be a vital force in Louisville. You need 
have no fear of that! 

Pollitz. A lot of ground will have to be regained if 
she is to be acceptable to them now. 

Joseffy (bristling) My daughter acceptable to them? 

Pollitz. Then it is evident that you do not know the 
mischief that has been done by the gossips there. There 
is no use condemning them. They see their faith attacked, 
and they are hostile. The only question is whether they 



190 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

will insist on a public explanation from me as to what has 
occurred in this household. 

Joseffy {proudly) You forget the respect they have 
for me. 

Pollitz {with a bitter laugh) That implies that at 
least they have it for you if they haven't it for me. Your 
resignation won't make my position any the more com- 
fortable. 

Joseffy. If you will be less timorous, you will have 
little difficulty either with their respect or understand- 
ing. 

Pollitz {determined) I believe it will be to the best 
interests of everyone if you withdraw your resignation. 

Joseffy. My trustees will have to accept it. 

Pollitz {as if it were impossible) You mean to say 
that you convinced them that you did the right thing? 

Joseffy. If I have not, I will. 

Pollitz. As practical men, they could only counsel 
that you let the fire burn itself out. 

Joseffy. On the contrary. They came to me with a 
definite proposal of their own. 

Pollitz. About Christian Science? 

Joseffy. They asked me to use what pulpits I could 
as well as the lecture platform to talk to Jews about 
Christian Science. 

Pollitz {with scorn) And they call themselves busi- 
ness men! If we are not careful, we are going to give 
Christian Science a fearful amount of advertising at a 
heavy cost to ourselves! 

Joseffy. But for Sidonie's claims on me, I would give 
immediate consideration to their proposal. 

Pollitz. Only the unfortunate fact that you have 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 191 

come close to Christian Science could so mislead you as 
to your duty. Else you would hesitate to make yourself 
the storm centre for a noisy religious controversy. 

Joseffy. I am the storm center for one now. 

Pollitz. No. It's only Sidonie who has been in 
the spotlight. Now the synagogue will be dragged in. 

Joseffy. And I had thought that you might under- 
take this work in place of myself! (Angry enough to 
watch for the effect of his words) A large sum of money 
would go with it, if you should care to consider it. 

Pollitz (highly interested) Is that so? They are 
business men, all right! 

Joseffy. They are resourceful individuals. 

Pollitz (back to his former attitude) But they are 
being stampeded into hasty action! I am amazed at 
Laempfert! 

Joseffy. If this is an absurdity, it is not my predica- 
ment that has led them into it. 

Pollitz. Can't they see that we are not fighters in 
that sense, nor have been for hundreds of years? This 
small civil war being carried on in our midst by people 
who have no real influence will prove a tempest in a 
teapot. The history of Israel doesn't devote many pages 
to backsliders. (His antagonism mounts on a higher note) 
I've got to speak this way to clear my mind. This spir- 
itual brawl is throwing everything out of focus. My work 
begins to lack the ring of conviction. I am nervous, 
anxious, my talk is flat, I look as if I were dodging every 
issue, not alone this one. 

Joseffy (who has been listening with tightened lips 
and with lowered head) I cannot reconcile all this with 
a man of your ability. You surely are not conscious of 



192 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

any wrongdoing! You can minister to us all, even to me, 
if you keep a brave outlook. 

Pollitz. I can have no enthusiasm in the matter at 
all. I have other things to do. I owe something to my 
own trustees. While yours want to see you fight Chris- 
tian Science in the open, mine wouldn't want anything 
of the sort. I have got to create a quiet, constructive at- 
mosphere in Louisville, and be emphatic without being 
impetuous. They are right! Judaism, after its many 
centuries of suffering is entitled to quiet. 

Joseffy. Regarded that way, religion comes danger- 
ously near to serving as an opiate. 

Pollitz. Not in my hands! I will manage to quicken 
my people while I preach the wisdom of a contented 
Israel, successful and smiling, going about its work cheer- 
fully. I want to see happy men, women and children 
— no long faces, no morbidity, no renunciation of the 
feast that life spreads before us. 

Joseffy. Take care lest that cost the synagogue too 
much! 

Pollitz {with a pitying smile) You underestimate 
my strength. I assure you that I will carry through this 
programme in a way that will make unnecessary the 
preaching of new crusades. No personal motives shall 
dictate my relations to my congregation. Religion is like 
a flame in a lamp you are carrying — you must shield it 
from the passing wind. 

{Joseffy eyes the younger man for a full mo- 
ment without speaking) . 

Joseffy {icily) And what would your advice to me 
be about Sidonie? 

Pollitz {who has now taken the tone of an equal, and 






THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 193 

holds it to the end) Why do you think Sidonie is not 
going to do exactly as she wishes? That means, then, 
that you will be driven to this anti-Christian Science 
campaign. The antagonism will mount. You will find 
other rabbis lining up against you. I would not be sur- 
prised if the Conference took the matter up and decided 
against this crusade. I shall certainly oppose it in Louis- 
ville. 

Joseffy (forcing himself to speak composedly) Let 
us bring our thoughts back to Sidonie. 

Pollitz. She has never been out of mine in connec- 
tion with the whole business. The pity of it is that she 
should now be the focus of all thought reached by the 
news of your resignation. I tell you, we must forgelt 
Christian Science. We must not make it a millstone 
around our necks! 

Joseffy. Rather is it like burying one's head in the 
sand, and calling that doing one's duty. 

Pollitz. I do not seem to be able to convince you 
that I am honest about my intentions in Louisville. If 
my life is to be of any use, if I have any message, then 
the instrument is that pulpit, and my waiting is at an 
end. {He puts his aggressiveness aside) Nothing short 
of a calamity has befallen us. It is hard to believe that 
Sidonie, with all her nobility, and her excellent mind, 
has come so near to driving both of us out of the syna- 
gogue, ruining our lifework, and making such an impass- 
able gulf between the two pulpits. 

Joseffy (exasperated beyond prudence) Well, at least 
she has shown us that such pulpits can have nothing in 
common. 

Pollitz (seizing on this) Whereas her unusual qual- 



194 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 



ities should have done just the opposite! God knows, she 
never intended when she left the faith to bring this about! 

Joseffy. You use the phrase "leaving the faith" too 
easily. I will not use it. I will not accept it as the last 
word, even if I have to stand alone in my belief in her! 

Pollitz. To Sidonie you and I have become in- 
truders. We live too far away from her because of our 
Judaism to be necessary to her. 

Joseffy (stumbling over the ivords) Surely, you are 
not finally going to Louisville to-morrow with that as 
your fixed opinion! 

Pollitz {not faltering) Since anything we may do 
is at the risk of her life, I must refuse to be a party to any 
hasty decision. For that reason I have done no immediate 
planning that includes her. 

Joseffy. That, to say the least, is evasive! 

Pollitz. I am not alone in that attitude. I can tell 
you that Sidonie has carefully avoided discussing our 
future. 

Joseffy (greatly agitated) That sounds like pure in- 
vention ! (He turns away in misery) . 

Pollitz. I am amazed that vour affection for her has 
not given you a clearer comprehension of her position. 
You ought not to be asking useless sacrifices. She has 
got to be left alone. I seem to be the only one here who 
discerns her need and meets it by self-effacement. You 
are beating your head against a wall. She doesn't want 
controversy, or advice, or any further statement of our 
position. Our Judaism must not disturb her, or we may 
wind up by bringing her to death's door! If that means 
that we are beaten, then it were time we knew it. I know 
it! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 195 

(There is no reply. As Joseffy's silence per- 
sists, Pollitz accepts it as a dismissal. He walks 
to the door). 
Pollitz (his hand on the knob) I wish you as happy 
a new year as is possible under the heavy load that you 
you are carrying! 

(Joseffy does not turn, and makes no reply. The 
door opens and closes. Joseffy goes back to the 
table, where he stands unsteadily; then he sits 
down with his hands locked before him). 
Joseffy (aloud) It was inevitable. 

(He debates that silently. Finally, when he can 
no longer balance self-castigation against self- 
defence, he opens the large, finely-bound Bible 
at his elbow, and putting on his glasses, turns to 
a place in the book and begins to read. 

(The words at first are inaudible, although his 
lips move; but soon his voice rises in a chant as 
he tries to find solace in the Psalms). 

Joseffy. " I have called upon thee, for thou 

wilt hear me, O God!" (His voice falls to a murmur; 
then rises again) "Show me thy marvellous loving-kind- 
ness." 

(His eyes cease seeing the words. Mechanical- 
ly he raises his glasses to his forehead, and is in 
debate once more, far from, the thoughts which 
the words have evoked) . 
Joseffy (aloud) What now? What will she say about 
that? 

(He shakes his head forlornly, and then his 
strength utterly goes. Desolation and futility rob 



196 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

him of the last vestiges of self-control. His head 
sinks on his hands, and his despair ends in tears. 
{There is a tap on the door, which makes him 
sit up. Hastily wiping his eyes, he drops his 
glasses back on his nose. Then he walks to the 
other end of the room to the settle, from which he 
reaches out to the shelves, and takes the first book 
on which he lays his hand. With this open on 
his knee, he hoarsely calls: "Yes?" 

{Mrs. Joseffy comes in carrying a basket of 
flowers. As she puts it on the table, she looks in 
her husband's direction. He is absorbed in the 
book) . 
Mrs. Joseffy. Mrs. Elenthal sent these, Ephraim, 
She also sent us two wonderful Japanese vases which I 
haven't finished unpacking. You know, she doesn't seem 
quite the same person after her trip to Japan. I think 
she feels we are limited. {She takes some of the flowers, 
and puts them in a vase on the gateleg table beside the 
fireplace ) . I hope she remains in Pittsburgh this win- 
ter. I always liked her. ( From time to time she glances 
in her husband'' 's direction) . 

Joseffy {since an answer is expected of him) She'll 
get used to Pittsburgh. 

{There is quiet while Mrs. Joseffy moves about 
nervously) . 
Mrs. Joseffy {in a constrained voice) William must 
have been in a great hurry. He didn't stop to talk to me. 
Joseffy. He has a great deal to do. 
Mrs. Joseffy. He's not giving us enough time. 
Joseffy. Too distracted, I suppose. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 197 

Mrs. Joseffy {with an effort) You told him about 
trying to take Sidonie to Europe? Did he approve? 

Joseffy. He naturally presumes that I will want to 
do my best by her. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes. Yes. He didn't find fault with 
you? 

Joseffy. He undoubtedly feels, Rose, that no matter 
what I do, it will be the injudicious thing. 

Mrs. Joseffy (after a pause) But can he do any 
better for her? 

Joseffy. He is only thinking of what I am doing, and 
looks upon me as a meddler in her affairs. He feels she 
would be better off if left alone. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes, I understand that. But that 
wouldn't satisfy him altogether, would it? What is he 
going to do instead? 

Joseffy (choosing his words carefully) He has no 
plans of his own. He thinks it's risky to be making them 
at this stage. 

Mrs. Joseffy. He is right, in his own way. I think 
he understands her. 

Joseffy. Evidently. He took it upon himself to ex- 
plain her to me. 

Mrs. Joseffy (hastily) It's her condition he is so 
anxious about. He couldn't have meant anything else, 
Ephraim, no matter what he said. 

Joseffy. I admit his position isn't an easy one. His 
responsibilities call for a certain line of conduct. 

Mrs. Joseffy. He will do very well in Louisville. 

Joseffy. As a matter of fact, he feels that he will 
do better there than I have done here. 



198 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Mrs. Joseffy {with an attempt at lightness) Nonsense, 
Ephraim! 

Joseffy. Not at all. I believe he has the idea that 
the current has turned against me, and that my position 
is no longer what it was. 

Mrs. Joseffy (trying to speak steadily) What could 
he have said ? 

Joseffy. He doesn't approve of matters at all. 

Mrs. Joseffy {coming to a stop before him) What 
does he want of you? 

Joseffy. He thinks the damage has already been 
done. For himself he asks nothing but to be left in peace 
to do his work in Louisville. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Yes, but he can't be everlastingly 
thinking only of his own affairs! 

Joseffy (not looking at her) He is actuated by caution, 
rather than by courage, now that his little store of cour- 
age seems badly used up. We have taken too much for 
granted, Rose. We thought we were reliving our romance 
in Sidonie and him. I am afraid there was nothing vital 
to tie them to each other, and Sidonie's Christian Science 
seems to have raised insurmountable obstacles. 

Mrs. Joseffy (beginning to grasp the import of his 
words) A man in his position doesn't do things that way! 
(Joseffy sees that she is unsteady on her feet, 
and reaching out quickly, seats her beside him- 
self) . 

Joseffy (trying not to show how frightened he is) 
Now! Now! You mustn't feel like that! It's going to 
come out all right! Be grateful that she is getting better 
and is with us! It's all in God's hands. You must have 
faith, Rose! — you who understand her more than I do! 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 199 

Mrs. Joseffy {slowly recovering her breath) I am all 
right! Keep talking to me. Don't stop! 

Joseffy {at a loss) Yes! Yes! We shouldn't make 
William Pollitz more important to us than Sidonie. If 
we had possessed foresight, we wouldn't have let him sur- 
prise us by such a stand. Like most of us, he moves with 
the stream. But right now I want you to remember 
your heart, because you have got to use it for many years 
for Sidonie and me. 

Mrs. Joseffy. But why did you let him go so quick- 
ly? Don't you understand that he is prepared to do just 
as he likes? 

Joseffy. My dear, you wouldn't have asked him to 
stay if you had seen how he squirmed. Your respect 
for him would have died on the spot! 

Mrs. Joseffy. But you wanted to see him — 

Joseffy. Only because he had been expecting that 
we would have to come to this talk. It was a mutual 
obligation which had to be discharged. 

Mrs. Joseffy. You may have misunderstood him. 
You two have never been fair to each other ! 

Joseffy {firmly) Rose, neither you nor I have made a 
practice of keeping people in false relation to ourselves. 
There is no reason why we should act differently in his 
case. 

Mrs. Joseffy {grieving) Can't you see it was you he 
was impatient with, not Sidonie? He may feel that you 
have acted hastily about your resignation — 

Joseffy {wounded) Ah, dear, don't make it harder 
for me! {He puts his shoulders back) I have not acted 
hastily, nor like a coward. Those who want to hide away, 



200 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

or turn tail at the first public criticism, can leave me and 
Sidonie to our own devices. We can manage it! 

Mrs. Joseffy {realizing his hurt) You have acted 
honestly. But now you must prepare Sidonie about him, 
in case he leaves the city without seeing her. No! No! 
It won't be necessary! Please God, he will be ashamed 
of himself! He will be sorry for everything. He will 
see her. They will be happy yet, Ephraim. She will 
never be ungrateful to us for all we have done for her. 
{As he does not reply) Why should she? — she loves us, 
Ephraim ! 

Joseffy. I don't know whether she is getting far 
away from us because our outlook, according to her stand- 
ards, is too temporal, or because we are Jews. 

Mrs. Joseffy {blazing into anger) Could William 
have said worse! Oh, I have always thought that min- 
isters didn't understand women ! I should have spoken to 
William! 

Joseffy. You are making very clear to me, Rose, 
that I ought also to be thinking of your spiritual prob- 
lems. You have begun to take sides. Your duty is clear. 
{Insistently) If you have any hope of Sidonie ever being 
the wife of any Jew, you have got to see it as I see it! 

{There is a knock on the door to the right. In 
the tensity of the situation it sounds unnaturally 
loud. Mrs. Joseffy is about to get up, but her 
husband gently restrains her). 

Joseffy. I will open it. 

Mrs. Joseffy. I think you should be left alone this 
morning. 

Joseffy. No, let them come. My people still believe 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 201 

I can do things for them. (Almost bitterly) I must be as 
eager for the round of duties as when no thought of leav- 
ing them ever entered my head. 

(Mrs. Joseffy is ready to cry, but saves herself 
from breaking down. Joseffy opens the door to 
find Sidonie standing there in street attire. She 
kisses him, and comes in. Her steps are un- 
steady as she walks towards her mother). 

Sidonie. Oh, it's just the two of you, mommy! 

Mrs. Joseffy. What color you have, dear! (,4s 
Sidonie bends down to kiss her, she feels her forehead) . 
Yet you're cool. It's wonderful, Ephraim! 

Joseffy. It is very encouraging. 

Sidonie (sitting down beside her mother) Ah, mommy, 
now a long pull all together in believing that, and we're 
at the end of the road. 

Joseffy. You shall be well! 

Sidonie (trying to speak calmly) Good, daddy! When 
you say it that way, then I am sure! 

Joseffy (trying to smile bravely) When you feel a 
little surer, we must spend more time together. 

Sidonie. My beautiful daddy! You have been so 
patient during these last days with me, that I have been 
thrilled with gratitude. I know just what it has meant 
to you to stand back and watch. With your vision, every- 
thing is possible. William has been much more difficult. 
I know you will help him. (Joseffy can only remain 
silent). I have been reading some of your last year's 
sermons. There is a spiritual spaciousness in them that 
has been like a revelation to me. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Sidonie, you and your father both 



202 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

ought to stop talking, and learn to play a little. Your 
seriousness is — like a weight! 

Sidonie. There you go, mommy — figuratively hiding 
under the table! My peace of mind now demands open- 
ness, like an open field, rather than a shut-up room. I 
want daddy to feel that way, to take pleasure in the 
thoughts others think as they seek. 

Joseffy. You haven't been exciting yourself by visit- 
ing people while you were out? 

Sidonie. I saw only one person. That was Uncle 
Sydney. I realized when I talked to him how unfortunate 
it was that when you and I were there, others were there, 
too. 

Joseffy. I suppose we all did the best we could. 

Sidonie. A step at a time, dad. We must be prepared 
now to take the next one. 

Joseffy (as she pauses) You mean that I should go 
to see your uncle again? 

Sidonie (her facing shining) O you wonderful man! 
Did you hear that, mommy? No, daddy dear; for this 
time it is Uncle Sydney who comes to you. He is outside 
there now, waiting. Just think! He's here! 

Joseffy (astounded, his voice barely audible) What 
for? 

Sidonie. To see you! No hesitancy; just put on his 
hat, called his car — (catches sight of her father's dis- 
mayed expression) Why, what is the matter? 

Joseffy (turning away) I — am not prepared. 

Mrs. Joseffy (quickly) Ephraim, Sydney is going to 
leave Pittsburgh. You may never see him again. 

Joseffy (trying to spare Sidonie) You don't know 
what a difficult time we had at his office. Things like that 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 203 

shouldn't occur, particularly in my own home, where 
I am at a disadvantage. 

Sidonie. Dad. you have always prided yourself on 
the fact that this house was open to every man, woman 
and child in Pittsburgh. 

Joseffy. Thev do not come to deny convictions I 
hold. 

Sidonie (pleadingly) Dad, I would be deeply grieved 
if you sent him away. 

Joseffy. Very well; then I shall see him. 

(Sidonie gets up, and going over to him, puts 
her arms about his neck). 
Sidonie. You and I have been living so unnaturally! 
Mommy is right. We are not going to let things get to 
the breaking point any more! 

(She kisses him. As if from habit, she takes 

off his glasses, and tucks them into his coat-pocket. 

Then she goes out to call her uncle). 

Joseffy (utterly undone) How can anyone hope to 

make any sort of lucid explanation to her of William 

Pollitz's conduct? What of the Sidonie that we knew 

is left to us? And now I am to meet Sydney Rosenthal! 

Mrs. Joseffy (with sudden spirit) You are as big a 

man as he! You will know what to tell him! 

Joseffy (with a surge of confidence) A bigger man 
than he, I hope! 

(Rosenthal and Sidonie come in. Rosenthal is 
abrupt, aggressive, impatient) . 
Rosenthal (to Joseffy — curtly) How are you? (To 
his sister) Rose, I would be very grateful if you would 
take Sidonie out on the porch. 



204 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Mrs. Joseffy {astonished) Why? (As he does not 
answer) It would be so much better, Sydney, if we all sat 
down together as in the old days. {Finding that this 
makes no impression) Or if you wish, Sidonie can go up 
to her room and rest. 

Rosenthal {relentlessly) No, Rose. You will have 
to take me on faith. 

Mrs. Joseffy (stiffening) People so stubborn — 
Joseffy (interposing) I see no reason why you should 
not stay, Rose, if you want to. 

Rosenthal (to Joseffy) As you please. Though it 
would be a kindness to both you and me if I could have 
my way. 

(Joseffy gets as far away from him as possible 
and turns his back on him). 
Sidonie. Mother, the love that actuates uncle put me 
on my feet. Be sure that he is a bearer of glad tidings! 
Mrs. Joseffy (to her husband, who is now pacing the 
room) Perhaps Sydney's way doesn't mean any argu- 
ment or bad feeling. You know what you said a minute 
ago. You will know what to do. (Turning to Sidonie) 
Mrs. Elenthal brought you some beautiful Japanese 
prints. Until your uncle is through, it will give us some- 
thing to look at. 

(This offer of interest outside the room does not 
immediately reach Sidonie, who has shut her 
eyes, and stands very erect, her lips visibly mov- 
ing as if in prayer. When she feels her mother's 
hand on her arm, she follows her out) . 
Rosenthal (his hands on the back of a chair, leaning 
towards his brother-in-law) Ephraim, I was astounded 
to find that Sidonie was ignorant of your resignation. 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 205 

It was pure chance that she should have come to me 
first on leaving this house. The whole thing now looks 
more mysterious to me than ever. Do you mind telling 
me why you resigned? 

Joseffy {angrily) I see no reason for discussing it 
with you before I find Sidonie sufficiently well to go 
into the matter with her. 

Rosenthal. I see plenty of reason. I am a poor 
enough Scientist to believe that the shock of learning 
of it may do her harm. 

Joseffy {caustically) Then may I reassure you on 
that point? I will be very careful in my talk with her. 

Rosenthal. But can't you see the impossible situa- 
tion, and why it won't straighten out? That, too, after 
what she has gone through! (As Joseffy makes no reply) 
Then I may as v/ell tell you that I came because I thought 
you had gotten beyond your depth and needed help. 

Joseffy. And you come to advise? — or to threaten? 

Rosenthal. To advise. The threat seems to be en- 
tirely on your own side. I take it for granted that you 
have not resigned to publicly voice your disapproval of 
what Sidonie has done. So you must have taken the 
step because you believed that in some inexplicable way 
it would benefit her. 

Joseffy. The interpretation is purely meddlesome. 

Rosenthal. I am hoping, however, that you have not 
taken it upon yourself to go to work over Sidonie as 
surgeons work over some desperate case, taking chances 
they would not normally take. 

Joseffy {with disdain) That is in keeping with the 
rest of what you have been saying. But you are correct 



206 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

in one thing — the case is desperate with the pressure that 
is being brought to bear on her. 

Rosenthal. I would feel that I had left Pittsburgh 
with a vital task unaccomplished if I did not talk plainly 
to you. Until Sidonie turned to Science, no one had the 
courage to oppose you. I am not speaking for myself, 
for when a man at my age changes his point of view on 
religion, he has ceased to care about what people will 
say. This child, like the child in Hans Christian Ander- 
sen's tale who cried out that the deceived king had no 
garments on, has spoken out about Judaism. If your 
religion cannot stand the test, and this child must find 
you eternally trying to set her right, there is only one 
thing to do. 

Joseffy. All of which can only mean that your in- 
fluence and dictation are to be paramount. Since you are 
so confident about it, what are your terms? 

Rosenthal [losing his temper) Now you are bullying 
me! {His anger passes as quickly as it came). There 
will be the end to that for everybody today, at any rate. 
No, I am not here to dictate terms. But I think that 
someone ought to find out how far you are going to go 
with Sidonie, and if you are overstepping your rights, to 
tell you to stop. If you could put reason above passion 
there is no one right now you could turn to who is in a 
better position to advise you than I. 

Joseffy [his tone freighted with contempt and aver- 
sion) I have no objection to telling you what I intend to 
do. My first step will be to ask Sidonie to go to Europe 
with me. 

Rosenthal {at once) Change of scene — certainly! 
But she oughtn't to go on top of your resignation. If she 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 207 

goes with you, her understanding should be that you have 
had a leave of absence. And under no circumstances is 
she to be asked to receive medical attention. Not that I 
believe that you would drag her to Europe to turn her 
over to physicians, since you didn't call them in during 
the past two weeks. 

Joseffy (outraged) I wonder if you hear what you 
say and how you say it! 

Rosenthal. I presume it doesn't sound pleasant, nor 
conciliatory. But for this brawling atmosphere I might 
act and speak less hostilely. It is necessary, however, to 
get you back to earth. 

Joseffy. If your "reality," as you call it, can be 
satisfied with picturing Sidonie as antagonistic to what 
I want to do, and in trying to make a breach in our affec- 
tion, then it is my right to counter your influence. I have 
not broached to her the question of going, but I am sure 
that she will consider it patiently. 

Rosenthal (less vehement) Ephraim, I cannot believe 
that you grasp what has taken place in Sidonie's thinking, 
otherwise you would not go ahead with such confidence. 

Joseffy. Sidonie's thinking is a mass of conflicting 
words, phrases, illusions! 

Rosenthal. To win against her spiritual experience, 
you count on ancestor worship, pure and simple. 

Joseffy. That is but the lawyer's trick of forcing an 
appearance of guilt upon the man he is attacking. Sido- 
nie's freedom of judgment for which you have become 
a special pleader has been in abeyance since she began 
seeing through Mary Baker Eddy's eyes. She can no 
more think her own thoughts now than you can. 



208 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Rosenthal. It seems a relief to her after the time 
she spent reading the ancient lesson of despair. 

Joseffy. I the destroyer; you the resurrection and 
the life! 

Rosenthal {bitterly) It was a long time before I 
had the courage to be anything. 

Joseffy. I wonder, after the way she went to pieces 
that day in your office, whether you really think you are 
more than experimenting! 

Rosenthal. So I did experiment! — by waiting while 
she dragged herself along in that nightmare of hers. The 
waiting was not Christian Science! 1 cannot understand 
how I had the patience. Just stop and think! Be fair! 
I, who was certain that the key to her health was mental, 
had to conceal that knowledge from her as if it were 
criminal! I had to watch her being prepared for the 
shroud, while you carried on the fiction that it was to be 
a wedding garment! I was doubly a coward, for I held 
off through nothing but squeamishness. When she oc- 
casionally came to see me, and would curl herself up 
helplessly on the couch, I would talk to her about trifles. 
Think of the mockery of that! That is nothing to my 
absurdity when I first heard that you had resigned. For 
a moment I thought that you were willing to let her go on, 
and by your resignation challenged the criticism of your 
community. It would have been magnificent — but it 
isn't done, I suppose. 

Joseffy. Lest you misunderstand, let me say once 
and for all that if it is in my power, there shall be no 
Christianity for Sidonie! 

Rosenthal. And so, because you are obsessed with 
the desire to save Judaism for Jews, or Jews for Judaism 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 209 

—I don't know which — you would have her back where 
she was last winter! 

Joseffy. You are grovelling in the dust of fear! In 
that you forecast what will come with the collapse of 
Eddyism as a gospel of salvation. That is what I have 
to look out for in Sidonie's case — that when this physical 
quickening which has followed on the intoxication from 
Mrs. Eddy's words passes away, the reaction may not be 
too terrible. She has not considered that. She is begin- 
ning to be out of reach of commonsense thinking. Why, 
she has not even thought it possible that she might lose 
William Pollitz in this confusion! 

Rosenthal. Would that be his fault, or hers? 

Joseffy. How can she ever go into his synagogue, 
and feel herself an integral part of it? You know bet- 
ter! 

Rosenthal. That matters least. Her mental adjust- 
ment matters most. Of course she is chancing the future, 
as thousands before her have done in the quest for truth. 
It is cowardly to put a hopeless construction on that. 
As for the past that you want her to conserve, the dead 
weight of it will fall away no matter by what artifice you 
may want to tie it to her. 

Joseffy. We shall see — if you play fair. 

Rosenthal. No, not so fair that I shall willingly 
see you sell Sidonie's soul for a mess of pottage. You 
intend to make her conform; that's plain! I deny your 
right to do it. I insist that there is only one way in 
which she can now get out of her mental turmoil, and 
that is to live away from those who accept it as part 
and parcel of their existence. She has to begin by shak- 
ing the dust of Pittsburgh from her feet. She must take 



210 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

up her life among people who by their sympathetic under- 
standing of her needs will help to continue her healing. 
I suggest that since I am going to Boston, Sidonie go there 
with her mother for a prolonged stay — and not to Europe, 
or anywhere else. 

Joseffy [caught unawares) This is criminal! 

Rosenthal. If I appear to be a criminal, it is because 
your judgment has gone astray. 

Joseffy [trembling as he speaks) Do you realize that 
if she listened to you and went, she would never be able 
to come back? 

Rosenthal. You mean her physical self? For the 
rest, you know she is beyond your reach already. You 
would be mad, however, if by some reckless attitude you 
threw away the boundless affection she has for you. 

Joseffy (shaking with passion) Sydney Rosenthal, I 
warn you to desisi! You have the vileness of a sniveling, 
soul-snatching priest! How dare you approach me with 
a proposition like that? How dare you thrust between 
Sidcnie and me this decayed creed which has been 
warmed over for people like you? (He strides over to 
the door, as if to call in the others; but before reaching it, 
swings about, and going to Rosenthal, seizes his arm 
forcibly) . You shameless person, you take yourself out 
of my house, or I'll throw you out ! 

Rosenthal (going to the chair where he has put 
his hat and overcodt, and taking them up) All right, 
Ephraim. If that is all you can find to say to me, then 
the end is very near anyway. I thought I might bring 
you escape from lip service. But in the end it is the 
undoing of most ministers. To you who belittle our 
metaphysics I say that the wisest thing you can do in 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 211 

this crisis is to get out of Pittsburgh and go to Boston 
yourself, if you are not to be reckoned a closed chapter 
in the spiritual life of America. 

Joseffy (his anger waning, and desolation taking its 
place) You come to tell me that you would bury her 
among non-Jews, that you are willing to watch her come 
closer to these strangers to Judaism, while Rose and I 
would be losing her, practically as if she had entered 
a convent. 

Rosenthal (his own anger giving away) Take a look 
at the other side of the picture. Suppose that in a few 
years your own life should close. If sick, Sidonie would 
have to go on for years with nothing to alleviate her 
misery. Could anything be more terrifying? Haven't you 
enough imagination to see her moving out of girlhood 
into middle-age, a burden to others, a sorrow to her- 
self? That is the deadly alternative you oifer. We get 
so accustomed to sick people that we cease to project 
them into the future. But if Sidonie is going to accept 
material concepts, that future is inescapable for her. 

Joseffy. I have asked you to consider what it will 
mean if she is not healed by your creed, and in the end 
cannot even find sufficient faith to come back to the 
Jewish world from which she sprung. 

Rosenthal. What if she does not come back? You 
are thinking only of Judaism, as if the alternative were 
annihilation. God has given Sidonie understanding 
beyond the ordinary. She was bound to doubt Judaism. 
There is doubt of it in many quarters, except that you 
have not made yourself aware of it, because in all your 
years of ministering to your people, none brought you 
their misgivings about their faith. That very fact should 



212 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

make you pause before you fly out in attack on another 
faith. It is time that the leaders of Israel themselves be- 
gan a little outspoken questioning on their own account. 
When they do, they will, for one thing, admit the possi- 
bility that Christianity can be a belief in one God. They 
will also discover that a Christian Scientist is not neces- 
sarily one of the many idol-worshipping Christians. (With 
finality) I don't expect to see you for a long time, and 
my parting word is that you debate with lack of bias 
the step you have taken and the one you are about to 
take. Sidonie is entitled to her healing. If you persist 
in getting in her way she will rise in bitter revolt against 
you. She will tear the image of you out of her heart I 
All that depends upon you. You can save or you can 
destroy. You can be with God, or against Him. I am 
putting Sidonie back in your hands for decision. 

{He is ready to go). 

Joseffy. You can stay long enough to put the ques- 
tion to her yourself. 

Rosenthal. No, I won't stay. If I put my side, I 
must put yours; and then the atmosphere once more be- 
comes full of discord. This wrangling hasn't added 
stature to my spirit. I must believe that Sidonie will 
find her way past all interference. (He turns at the door 
for a last word). I say "Good bye" without any ex- 
pectation that you will get over your horror of what you 
call my "apostacy," from which your distrust of me 
really springs. I had believed that only ungodly men 
used that word to whip up the prejudices of their fel- 
lows. You have much to atone for. (He goes out). 

(Joseffy stands motionless with his back to the 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 213 

table. He makes a hard effort to grope his way 
out of his confusion, and succeeds in becoming 
more composed. 

{Sidonie comes in without her mother. She 
looks at her father lovingly and with a certain 
curiosity, and without speaking sits down in a 
chair near the fireplace. Her attitude is one of 
expectancy) . 

Joseffy (accidentally knocking a book from, the table 
to the floor, and stooping to pick it up) Your uncle 
came here with a suggestion which concerns you, and 
which he has asked me to put to you. 

(Mrs. Joseffy enters quickly, looks with fear 
from one to the other, and finds her way to the 
settle) . 

Joseffy (who has paused to choose his words) Your 
uncle thinks that since he is going to Boston, it would 
be well for you and your mother also to go there. 

Sidonie (mechanically) Boston! (She repeats the 
word under her breath) . 

Joseffy (keeping himself in hand) He undoubtedly 
believes that the Christian Science environment which 
that city provides will be better for you than the half- 
Christian Scientist, half-Jewish life you now lead. His 
idea is that you should cut with the past, and put behind 
you disturbing Jewish influences. 

Sidonie. The uncertainty has been very hard for me, 
dad. 

Joseffy (as if reciting a well-learned lesson) Your 
uncle evidently does expect that your uncertainty will 
end with your going to Boston. 



214 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie. You want me not to make any decision just 
now, daddy? 

Joseffy. Will you put it off? — and instead go to 
Europe with me? — for a year, let us say. 

Sidonie. How could your congregation spare you? 
(As he does not at once answer) You do need a long 
leave of absence to get a good rest. 

Joseffy (his face lighting up) Yes! Yes! We would 
take things leisurely, then, couldn't we? 

Sidonie. I am not so keen about Europe, daddy. I 
prefer a quieter place. (Thoughtfully) Perhaps it's my 
/ear of Europe. I couldn't help thinking of the time 
when you believed that the physicians there should see 
me, and Dr. Kantor dissuaded you because he thought 
they might go to extremes. When you said Europe, I 
had a picture of a surgeon in his apron standing over me. 
(She laughs) I am still easily frightened. 

Joseffy. Dr. Kantor, in insisting on the high position 
of America in medicine, was somewhat unfair to Europe. 
They are not extreme over there. It would not at all be 
amiss for us to see some of the specialists — for advice 
only, of course. 

Sidonie (surprised, but not antagonistic) See them for 
me? {After a pause) No, dad! 

Joseffy. I hoped that you might — for my sake — 
(He stops abruptly, unable to find words to go on). 

Sidonie (greatly moved) If you are going to ask for 
a leave of absence, just to satisfy yourself by having 
physicians see how much stronger I am, why, I will go 
with you, daddy. But you know, I can't follow their ad- 
vice, or take their medicines. You'd rather I told you that 
now, wouldn't you? 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 215 

Joseffy (courageously) You mean, it would be re- 
pugnant to you to see them? 

Sidonie. Dad, there is nothing in Europe that can 
bring the perfect healing I want. To take the journey 
for just that purpose and get you away from your work, 
would be a cruel waste of your time. In the end it 
wouldn't make you happy. 

Joseffy. Suppose I am willing to chance it? 

Sidonie (roused) To find you there asking — demand- 
ing — that I see those physicians would give me a feeling 
about you, dad, — well, I can't quite explain it. I do 
want you to remain aloof, up above the annoying things, 
refusing to be bothered with them. It may be mere senti- 
ment to want to have you my ideal figure always, but I 
can't help that. I can't forget the hours we spent over 
the Bible, and over our Hebrew lessons, and the reading 
we did in Hebrew literature, and how when I was sick 
and dismal, you would dwell on the struggles of those 
who, despite physical handicaps, went forward. I feel 
as if I have broken bread many times with the heroes 
you and I cared so much about! 

Joseffy. It was a mistake for us not to have gone 
to the New Testament as well. There the characters stand 
out in a peculiarly mystical light, and one has to pre- 
serve the critical attitude. 

Sidonie (unable to hide her satisfaction that he has 
brought up the point) I'm sorry we didn't. Although 
our understanding at the time would have merely shown 
us Jesus and the apostles as viewed by the material Chris- 
tian church. Just as I was unable to draw proper con- 
clusions from the Old Testament. 

Joseffy (quivering like a tree under the stroke of an 



216 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

axe) Don't be so sure, Sidonie! You are at variance 
with the best minds of all times! 

Sidonie. What minds, dad? The sort we are likely 
to find when we go to Europe to hunt up physicians? 
They are keen enough, but do they do more than just 
swim on the surface? 

Joseffy {desperately) Very well; if you wish, we will 
not see any physicians. We will jog along comfortably 
along the Mediterranean. And when you are stronger, 
we will go into the Holy Lands, and finish our holiday 
there. 

Sidonie {growing more anxious, and at the same time 
more assertive) The Holy Land, dad, is rich in associa- 
tions for those who stress the material Moses and the ma- 
terial Jesus, and the material places where they preached 
and moved. The reality for which they stood is as much 
here as it is there — possibly more so, for it is not con- 
fused by false emotion. I know that if we went, and I 
expressed thoughts like that, it would make you very 
impatient, and I wouldn't want to risk losing one bit of 
our loving thought for one another. 

Joseffy {proudly) You are mistaken! Anywhere and 
everywhere I can be a tower of strength to you! 

Sidonie. Be that now, dad, when I need it so much! 

Joseffy. Not in the way you mean! I cannot — any 
more than those of our race who suffered and died in 
the indescribable hells created by Christian domination 
of Europe. These martyrs of ours are your example — 
and your lesson. 

Sidonie. They suffered and died, dad, that I might 
be free to choose. If they stood here, what w,ould you 
ask them to say to me? 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 217 

JoSEFFY. (excitedly) Do you think they would con- 
done your talking as if Judaism had become merely an 
historical incident? — you, the daughter of one who has 
the status of a Levite! 

Sidonie. But if Judaism can no longer serve me? — 
if it seems to bar the way? 

Joseffy (ivith a wild fling of his arm) Are you not 
going to give a thought to others? Don't you understand 
how this affects William Pollitz? 

Sidonie {slowly) I have been trying to see what Wil- 
liam and I are going to do about each other. I feel that 
when the time comes, he will not be found utterly want- 
ing. I had been hoping, dad, that between the two of 
you, I would come into my own. Billy has never been as 
hostile as you are at this moment — 

Mrs. Joseffy {breaking in hysterically) Are you go- 
ing to compare your father with that hypocrite who isn't 
worthy to tie your father's shoestrings? 

Sidonie (aghast) Mother! 

Joseffy (loudly) No! No! Neither of you knows 
what you're saying! You are frightening each other 
needlessly! (Coming forward so as to be between the 
two, to command their attention) Rose, things are not so 
serious! — 

(Mrs. Joseffy bursts into tears. Sidonie gets up 
quickly, and goes to her mother, sits down beside 
her, and while she talks, fondles her) . 

Sidonie (softly) It's all right, mommy. I didn't want 
to see it, else I would have known long before you spoke. 
This is all part of the lesson I had to learn. It had to 
be. There is nothing terrible in the words, "The Lord 



218 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

hath given, and the Lord hath taken away," for that is 
followed by, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." He 
hath given me of understanding, and taken away my 
error. 

Mrs. Joseffy (through her tears — astounded) And is 
that all you can say about William! 

Sidonie. A year ago, the idea of his not being at my 
side at a time like this would have made a coward of 
me. Now, whatever Billy may think or may do, he can 
only reveal the truth. 

Joseffy (revolted) This symbol of truth may have 
only been interested in saving his own skin. 

Sidonie (like a chant) I must see no evil in him. Any 
disappointment I may feel will but limit my compre- 
hension of God as Good. 

Joseffy. This is beyond my comprehension! To re- 
sign so easily what has been so necessary to you until 
now! It is but another self-inflicted wrong! 

Mrs. Joseffy. Ephraim, be grateful! 

Joseffy (who has not heard her — to Sidonie) Don't 
make the mistake of interpreting William Pollitz's con- 
duct as being that of a Jew! 

Sidonie. Dad, his unkindness does not do him justice. 
I am coming more and more to see in all of you beauty 
of purpose that is amazingly wonderful. There is no 
spirit of resignation in the way I am accepting William's 
decision. I know that it is a demonstration in answer to 
my necessity. (Ecstatically, putting out her arms) Dad, 
it is a new Sidonie who speaks to you. Through me you 
can understand the words, "He has risen!" For even I 
am of the texture of God, and there is not one iota of me 
that is not divine! Truly have I risen! I declare that my 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 219 

old, false self is no more! And I am grateful for all 
the steps that have made this possible — your visit to 
Uncle Sydney, his visit here, William's putting his house 
in order, your determination to find where I stood! 

Joseffy {thoroughly demoralized) "Risen"? — Out of 
the gaberdine to Christian respectability? — 

Mrs. Joseffy. Ephraim, she doesn't mean it in that 
sense ! 

Joseffy (his discretion gone) Those who left the 
Judenstrasse may not have had the excuse of seeking 
physical well-being, but they never came back! 

Mrs. Joseffy (wringing her hands) You do not know 
what you are saying! 

Sidonie (with a quietness which belies her blazing 
eyes) Dad is right about my not coming back, mommy. 
I can never live again with any earth-bound creed. I will 
not let myself come into the shadow of a belief which, 
while insisting that I have been made in the image of 
God, insists at the same time that I am predestined for 
death ! 

(Joseffy's drooping figure straightens. He be- 
comes stern, haughty, superior. Indecision falls 
away from him. He needs only the praying shawl 
to appear ready to enter upon some religious cere- 
monial) . 
Joseffy (solemnly) My work is now made clear. As 
you stand there, Sidonie, trying to prove to me that the 
straight line which represents my past life leads nowhere, 
I realize that I have put personal ends above duty. There 
were times of late when I felt that the world would mock 
me and call my work a failure because of what you had 



220 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

done. I reasoned falsely: I lacked proper regard for 
what I had accomplished. Like many who steep them- 
selves in religious work, I have lived as a whole out of 
contact with reality. See how in my anxiety I have al- 
most lost sight of my vocation! 

Mrs. Joseffy (as if to remind him that she, his wife, 
is also listening) Sidonie respects you for what you are. 
So does everybody else! 

Joseffy. I do not know. Perhaps if I had been a 
seeker after praise, I would be more certain. But I am 
a plain man, one fully conscious of his failings. (Fer- 
vently) But I do know when the time has arrived to 
battle for my convictions! And Israel must put on its 
armor! The fact that this incident has almost wiped out 
my usefulness and made me irresolute, vaccilating, should 
be a warning to me. No more shifting from foot to foot! 
No further apologies! I am a Jew! And we Jews have 
our rallying cry. If you will remember, Sidonie, at one 
time you too said, with belief in your heart, "Hear 
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord He is one! Shema 
Yisroel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echod!" 
(Fie turns to leave the room) . 

Mrs. Joseffy (as Sidonie stands motionless, giving no 
sign of what she feels) Ephraim, don't you see that she 
will go away? 

Joseffy (turning at the door) Yes. I can't do any- 
thing. All I can hope for is that in return for our years 
of love, she will not in the end reject us altogether. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Sidonie, you mustn't let him carry 
away any such idea! 

Sidonie. Of course he won't! How could he? (She 
goes over to her father, and reaches out her hands for 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 221 

his, which he gives her. Her voice breaks again and 
again as she struggles with her tears ) . You are my big 
daddy, whom I utterly love and adore. No matter what 
your silly theories may be about my affection, it won't 
make the slightest difference. And I shall always hold 
your hand wherever I go, for I will be seeing you, not 
as differing with me, but only as you have been in your 
patience and goodness, so very, very long. 

Joseffy {who is suffering intensely) I am not going to 
ask anything for myself. Whatever plans you make, your 
mother should be first in your thoughts. She cannot 
bear anxiety. Make matters as easy for her as you can. 
As for me — I shall manage. 

(He kisses her and goes out. 

(Sidonie stands for some time looking at the 
door which has shut behind him. Her mother 
has remained on the settle, a bowed little figure, 
with her arms hanging limply at her sides). 

Sidonie (turning about) I couldn't do otherwise, 
mother. 

Mrs. Joseffy (stonily) And now, if you go to Boston, 
your father will feel free to do that foolish thing. 

Sidonie. What do you mean? 

Mrs. Jseffy. His trustees have asked him to take up 
regular lecture work against Christian Science. 

Sidonie (bewildered) They dared to ask him tha!? 

Mrs. Joseffy. He hadn't decided before your uncle 
came. He can't do otherwise now. 

Sidonie. How bitter! How useless! (On second 
thought) Yet why not? God works in devious ways. 



222 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Who can tell but that the restatement of the Jewish posi- 
tion may open doors long closed to truth? 

Mrs. Joseffy (her Judaism up in arms) You say that 
so easily! — as if Judaism isn't older than Christianity! 
(With a sigh) You are stubborn — like your father. 
(Averting her head) When he thinks this over, he will 
feel that I have had a lot to do with your going. 

Sidonie. We've got to trust the future, mother, or 
there can be no escape from wretchedness. 

Mrs. Joseffy. Oh, I suppose you are right to think 
of your health, and not to mind my prejudices. They 
can't help you. I am a foolish old woman. Trouble 
doesn't make me any wiser. 

Sidonie (slowly) Yes, my health. (With a shiver) I 
couldn't go through such awful years again! No more! — 

Mrs. Joseffy. No! No more! That's what I felt 
when I got you to write from Frankfort for that book! 
You shall not be crossed in anything any more! If you 
wish, I shall never speak to you again about William. 

Sidonie. I know. (Thoughtfully) I would seem to 
live to some purpose to you if I married, wouldn't I? 

Mrs. Joseffy (simply) Yes. 

Sidonie (suddenly) Mother, you are coming to Boston 
with me, and you will stay all winter! 

Mrs. Joseffy (frightened) You mustn't put it like 
that! 

Sidonie. Yes, it is of you I am thinking. You are 
entitled to carry a smiling face. Here, if you come back 
after a short stay, and I am away, you will always be 
locked in with your unrest, like some poor beastie in a 
cage. In Boston you will be out of reach of all the dis- 
cussions about me. You will lose your fear about your 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 223 

heart. Physicians will be merely some unpleasant dream 
out of which you have awakened. 

Mrs. Joseffy {hopelessly) As if I cared about my 
heart! Just think of a woman at my age with her home 
falling to pieces! My heart must work long enough to 
let me help both you and your father in your stubborn- 
ness. 

Sidonie. You know that during the Holy Days, as 
you sit before the pulpit during the long services, your 
thoughts will be divided between your prayers and me. 
For I have made up my mind that I shall not stay here 
until then, mother. (The figure on the settle becomes 
more crumpled) . If you are to go, dad would certainly 
prefer that you went before the Holy Days with me, for 
your sake as well as mine. 

Mrs. Joseffy {frightened) How could I, the wife of 
Dr. Joseffy, be comfortable among people who are in- 
terested in you as a Christian? Think of the talk here 
and everywhere! If you go right away, there will be 
more talk. Yes, you should wait, over the holidays. You 
will be stronger. 

Sidonie. I shall go. But I can't be thinking of your 
perpetual worry about me. You haven't been living 
normally for years. My illness took a big part of your 
strength. Other women at your age look ten years 
younger than you do. Oh, I must make some repayment, 
and I can't do it by lying to you and telling you the 
proper thing would be for you to sit here with your hands 
folded! Happiness is your birthright! Why will vou 
turn away from it? 

Mrs. Joseffy {without spirit) It is easy for you to say 
that. 



224 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

Sidonie (unyielding) It is easy for everyone to say 
that! Mother, because you are bewildered by life, you 
brood here. You doubt, you find fault. You are un- 
able to shake out of your mind the wretched thoughts 
that haunt it. To understand what you are going through 
and not be able to help you is like becoming very ill 
when one is alone! You are made in the image of the 
perfect God, mother! Declare it! 

Mrs. Joseffy (argumentative) You think I'm weak 
because I look depressed. I have been stronger than you 
know. It's been no easy thing to find my way between the 
two of you, at times wanting to side with your father — 
for I am a Jewess! And then I would be afraid that 
you would lose what little strength you had gained, and 
(reluctantly) I would say over and over words I had seen 
in your "Science and Health." My difficulties were 
greater than either of you can guess. And I never dared 
to stop and think what it all meant and what I was doing. 

Sidonie. Then stop and think now, mother! If you 
come with me for a long stay, it will be not to take care 
of an invalid, but to attain for yourself the kingdom of 
heaven, which is peace. We will grow young together. 
You will be a girl again, and I can begin to live the girl's 
life of which I have been deprived. 

Mrs. Joseffy (hungrily) You are so sure, so hopeful! 
(Then she shakes her head). It's too late, dear. One 
can't readily make a becoming girl's hat out of an old 
woman's bonnet. 

Sidonie (with her hands gripping her mother's shoul- 
ders, as if she would lift her out of her seat) Despair! 
— is that to point the way for us from now on? Are you 
going to deny the demonstration I have made because 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 225 

you wish to show loyalty to the synagogue, while in your 
heart you know why my suffering has vanished? Because 
you have been told so, you believe that at an appointed 
time you will step into the grave. There is wrinkle laid 
over wrinkle on your face. Your eyes are becoming 
sightless because they look on fear. Your uncertainty is 
decaying every nerve. The heavens call to you, and you 
are afraid to raise your head! You crouch and wait, like 
a doomed criminal! You, good mother, sentenced to a 
living death! Think of it! And you believe that a 
perfect all-loving God could be a party to such deliberate 
cruelty ! 

Mrs. Joseffy {stirred out of her apathy) I can see 
how wonderful it must be for you. I have wondered, 
when I saw you lying on your back, looking so grey, why 
there should be so much unkindness in the world. But 
I considered that it was God's affair — it was between you 
and God, and I could do nothing. 

Sidonie. Blasphemous! Of what next are you going 
to accuse an all -wise Providence? You speak out of a 
material trance. (Shaking her mother gently) Wake up! 
Wake up! We are here for better reasons. 

Mrs. Joseffy (tremulously) It is hard not to be afraid 
when one is old. Age is worrying your father, too, or he 
would have acted differently. I am not obstinate, Sido- 
nie. I tried to see what it was you were looking for when 
you turned to this religion. After you grew stronger 
this summer, I really began to believe that miracles were 
possible. I had thought that there had been a mistake 
about them in the past — 

Sidonie (quickly) There was no mistake, if vou do n*t 



226 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

look on them as tricks. God does not need to work 
tricks. You can have your miracle if you believe enough! 

Mrs. Joseffy. As you got better, I hadn't felt so 
stirred by religion in years. That was one reason why 
this summer seemed so short towards the end. 

Sidonie. It was like an immense, timeless panorama 
to me. 

Mrs. Joseffy (grieving) I didn't want you to come 
home — to this. You didn't see how upset I was, you 
were so busy with your own thoughts. Oh, I don't want 
to fall down now and give up, like a worn-out horse! 

Sidonie (who has been hanging on every word) You 
have more to tell me than that! Voice the truth, mother! 
It will set you free! I promise that! 

Mrs. Joseffy (timorously) You mustn't misunder- 
stand. Sidonie. I love the God of Israel as deeply as your 
father does. I have been verv loyal to all he stands for. 
But if this idea I have, that God will punish me for mis- 
takes is going to be with me all the time, how can I go on? 
No! I should get away for a time. If I don't, I will lose 
hope! 

Sidonie. The perfect slave who is chained to fear 
never has hope. 

Mrs. Joseffy. But a woman never really feels free, 
dear! All my life I have had ambitions. I wanted to 
do a lot of things. But something always got in the way. 
After you became ill, there was only one thing I could 
live for. I couldn't hope to keep up with your father in 
his work, even though at first I did my best. It's not 
that I am stupid, Sidonie. There are times when I like 



THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 227 

to think how fine it would be to settle down and under- 
stand what is going on about me. Not just out of curios- 
ity. I want to share in the work, instead of crawling 
along behind. 

Sidonie (wildly happy) Mother, at last you are liber- 
ating yourself from the tyranny of purposeless living! 
Your hands and feet have been nailed to the cross of 
falsehood! God asks but to be remembered. Yes, you 
are going to come with me to Boston, to stay as long as 
your needs demand! Those needs can challenge the 
world! They can be boundless! No one shall tell you 
where they shall end! 

Mrs. Joseffy. I will be lying to your father if I go 
without speaking my thoughts to him. 

Sidonie. Since you will not speak, you will not have 
the courage to go, and if you stay, it will be a lie ! 

Mrs. Joseffy. No, I dare not tell him that it is for 
myself I am going. If I do, what will become of him? 
(Breathlessly) I mustn't stay! I mustn't give in like 
that, living in a corner, afraid of what is coming next! 
I will do anything you say! 

Sidonie (with hands uplifted) Oh, the sublime demon- 
stration! Mother, it was to you that the Prophet Ezekiei 
spoke when he declared: "I have no pleasure in the death 
of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn 
yourselves, and live ye!" 

(She seems to be addressing a wider audience 
than the lone woman who leans forward with fas- 
cination and eagerness; and her extended hands 
involuntarily assume the aspect of conveying a 



228 THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS 

blessing. Then she falls on her knees before her 
mother, and the two women cling to each other, 
overwhelmed by the unloosened floodtide of 
emotion) . 



{CURTAIN) 



